Does New York City Really Need These Giant 5G Towers?

This is Street Wars, a weekly series on the battle for space on New York’s streets and sidewalks.

A thrilling glimpse of New York City history is on display at the intersection of West 12th Street and Washington Street in Manhattan. Cobblestone-like Belgian blocks, most likely dating to the 1870s, line the street. The three-story Federal-style brick building on the southeast corner was built in 1842. It’s easy to imagine pulling up in a horse and carriage — or even in a Model T, since there’s a 1920s Art Deco building on the northeast corner.

So when the city proposed placing a shiny new 5G tower on a corner there, neighbors were not happy.

“Greenwich Village is known and loved around the world for its charming architecture,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, an organization devoted to safeguarding the heritage of Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo.

“There is a harm to having these 32-foot tall futuristic towers, often with large video display terminals on them, in residential neighborhoods in historic districts,” he said.

Thousands of residents participated in a letter-writing campaign against the proposed tower, Berman said. And the state’s Historic Preservation Office recently warned that tall towers would have an adverse effect on landmark blocks in the in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The “incompatible design” of the poles would “create a visual distraction,” officials said.

The fate of the West 12th Street tower is still under review by the Federal Communications Commission. But plenty of 5G “smartpoles” are on the way.