# NEW YORK | 1097 1st Ave | 495 FT | 39 FLOORS **URL:** \ **Category:** Proposed\ **Created:** [April 2, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352 "2026-04-02T19:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mackensen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/mackensen/32/138218_2.png) [@Mackensen](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Mackensen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/1 "2026-04-02T19:49:28Z")
![1097-first-avenue](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/6/8/68af3bbe9b6a6e36d41ca42c11079e355fc244b7.jpeg) Google maps > First Sigma, led by Jacob Orfali and Steven Orfali, filed a land-use application with the city to build a nearly 500-foot tower at 1097 First Avenue. The site, at the northwest corner of First Avenue and East 60th Street, currently contains a row of five-story buildings dating to at least the early 20th century. Public records show First Sigma owns seven properties in the immediate area: 1097, 1099, 1101, and 1103 First Avenue, and 345, 347, and 349 East 60th Street. > The proposed tower would rise 495 feet and include roughly 316,000 square feet of space. Under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, about 89 units — 25 percent of the residential space — would be set aside as permanently affordable. The plans also call for more than 42,000 square feet of community facility space on the second through fourth floors and about 4,400 square feet of ground-floor retail. > **[Developer Seeks to Replace Five UES Buildings With 39-Story, 354-Unit Tower](https://eastsidefeed.com/real-estate/developer-seeks-to-replace-five-ues-buildings-with-39-story-354-unit-tower/#google_vignette)** > > A developer is asking the city for permission to demolish a row of century-old Upper East Side buildings and replace them with a 39-story, 354-unit residential tower ---
**Author:** ![Whathewhy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/whathewhy/32/173238_2.png) [@Whathewhy](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Whathewhy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/2 "2026-04-02T19:53:08Z")
Another 150 meter skyscraper in the Upper East Side! Its also across the street from the Queensboro Bridge ---
**Author:** ![streetscaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@streetscaper](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/streetscaper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/3 "2026-04-02T20:47:23Z")
sigh 😢 😢 ---
**Author:** ![streetscaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@streetscaper](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/streetscaper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/4 "2026-04-02T21:18:10Z")
![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/7/a/7aa907ce480bed4a74d8c14118d55148d92e4da0.jpeg) I’m genuinely so damn sad to see this! All that scrumptious, finely-grained urbanism lost. Look at all those tiny retail spots, the lived-in history of our walk-ups with their famous fire escapes and distinctive cornices. That right there creates our vibrancy that everyone loves. Hell’s Kitchen is a vibrant hotspot because it’s chock-full of structures like this. It’s quintessential NY, it’s irreplaceable! ---
**Author:** ![Whathewhy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/whathewhy/32/173238_2.png) [@Whathewhy](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Whathewhy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/5 "2026-04-02T22:06:29Z")
Its a shame they don’t preserve it into the tower and make the tower design similar to the buildings currently there ---
**Author:** ![NeverForgiveAction](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/neverforgiveaction/32/181835_2.png) [@NeverForgiveAction](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/NeverForgiveAction)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/6 "2026-04-02T23:34:34Z")
It’s made extra poopoo by the fact that the horrendous crap just to the west will remain. ---
**Author:** ![Whathewhy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/whathewhy/32/173238_2.png) [@Whathewhy](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Whathewhy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/new-york-1097-1st-ave-495-ft-39-floors/25352/7 "2026-04-06T20:23:18Z")
Completion date is estimated at 2029 according to this article [Governor Hochul’s “Let Them Build” initiative and its potential impact on NYC real estate + 10 newly announced buildings | CityRealty](https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/market-insight/features/future-nyc/governor-hochuls-let-them-build-initiative-potential-impact-nyc-real-estate-10-newly-announced-buildings/71705) Article first shared by @Mackensen