Public Realm Boards October

The Handout of Responses to Community Feedback had so many thoughtful and deeply felt community comments that were close to pleas — over and over — for this iconic New York neighborhood to be seen, understood, respected, treasured as a primary, first tier priority in the design of this building. Chinatown is owed that, at a minimum, for giving over a large chunk of itself to this enormous building. The written responses from HOK were boilerplate and repetitive - as if this was a mere series of tasks to be checked off: Effectively dismissive, if not literally so. The casual observer would be hard pressed to identify a single Chinatown-influenced element.
You are not listening. Or, if you are, you are choosing not to hear. Please explore the possibilities more diligently. Listen. It’s important.
Aside from the absence of Chinatown influences, there’s an absence of character on these renderings. The building says nothing in particular except that it is tragically huge and massively banal. It does not welcome, it does not inspire, it does not appeal. It doesn’t celebrate, cherish, or comfort humanity. It does not evoke much emotion at all. Maybe that’s the point but - if so, shouldn’t that be made explicit to the community?