Politicians push state to hold firm vs. titanic 5G towers

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Call it the battle of the two towers — no, not Tolkien but digital telecommunication.

The State Historic Preservation Office has ruled that a pair of planned 32-foot-tall 5G cellular towers slated for 100 Horatio St. and 100 Jane St. in Greenwich Village would have an “adverse effect” on the area’s “historic resources.”

In addition, Boldyn Networks, the company installing the contentious, supersized columns around the city has pulled back from four other sites it was considering, 771 Greenwich St., 445 West St., 807 Greenwich St. and 100 Gansevoort St., Village Preservation reported.

City Hall has contracted with Boldyn to install 2,000 of the futuristic-looking, three-story structures citywide.

In addition, on March 8, local politicians — state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Deborah and Councilmember Erik Bottcher — jointly wrote to SHPO Deputy Commissioner Daniel Mackay, urging him to “reaffirm” the agency’s decision specifically against the two disputed structures.

“As elected officials representing the neighborhoods located in Manhattan’s Community Board 2, we support your findings that the proposed LinkNYC 5G towers at 100 Horatio Street and 100 Jane Street are incompatible with the adjacent historic districts,” they said. “We write today to request that you reaffirm your decision and reject the current request to reverse this determination.

“As we wrote in our letter of December 20, 2023, we believe that due to their size and design these 32-foot-tall towers should not be sited within or close enough to visually impact historic districts or individual landmarks in our area. The proposed tower at 100 Horatio Street is directly across the street from both the Greenwich Village Historic District and the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The proposed tower at 100 Jane Street is directly across the street from the Greenwich Village Historic District.

“The towers,” the pols wrote, “would negatively impact the historic character of these districts, and we urge the SHPO to reaffirm its findings that the towers will have adverse effects and should not be sited at these locations.”

Village Preservation noted that Boldyn Networks has argued that the leaves from street trees would block the views of the unsightly structures.