Applicants seeking permission for stoop gates told the Manhattan Community Board 2 Landmarks Committee that the measures are intended to improve safety and reduce ongoing sanitation problems.

At a December Landmarks Committee meeting, an applicant for 9 Waverly Place (presented in the record as Applicant (109/9 Waverly)) said the proposed design "recreate[s] the existing railing design" and would be "self closing." The presenter described repeated incidents of people sleeping, leaving packages and human waste on the stoop and said the work would "protect our family and property." Committee members asked for details about how the gate would attach to existing ironwork and whether the installation would obstruct pedestrians.

Members raised safety and streetscape concerns. One committee member said the gate’s hinge post looked "very thin, very flimsy" and warned that a 49-inch-wide gate could "sway halfway into the sidewalk." The applicant replied that the gate will include a self-closing system, leave about three feet of clearance for pedestrians and that the right-side panel would remain permanently closed in normal use.

The committee heard a related application for 140 and 142 West 4th Street, where the applicant, identified as Ilya Bennett, proposed a symmetrical pair of operable two-foot segments (four feet operable total) anchored to the first step. Bennett described the West 4th stoops as "wider and in a much more trafficked area" and said the problems were more acute for residential tenants. In response to questioning, Bennett agreed to consider raising the proposed gate height and later said he would "raise this fence to to 30 inches, based on your feedback today."

Committee members noted a tension between granting relief for security and preserving the historic character of stoops in the Greenwich Village historic district. Several members said a history of similar approvals on the block made it difficult to deny an applicant; others warned that repeated approvals of large gates could alter the street character.

The committee moved the items to its business session for resolution language that will record technical conditions (attachment method, required clearance, self-closing hardware) and the applicant’s commitment on gate height.