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Developers of a proposed Columbus Circle superbuilding - whoseoriginal plans collapsed last December amid controversy and the Wall Street upheaval - yesterday began seeking city approval for a scaled-down version.
A study funded by developer Mortimer Zuckerman's Boston Properties and filed yesterday with the City Planning Commission said the revised version unveiled in June would add only marginally to traffic and subway station congestion and the sewage load.
Some of the added problems could be alleviated by adjusting traffic signals and rules, adding some traffic enforcement agents and widening or adding subway stairway entrances, the study said.
The seven-month process launched yesterday with the filing of the new environmental-impact statement will end in a vote by the Board of Estimate next May if it is not short-circuited by a new lawsuit. The project, which is to include office, residential and retail space, is scheduled for completion in 1993.
Critics said more changes would likely be required before the $1-billion plan for a building with three double towers reaching as high as 62 stories on the 4.5-acre site of the closed New York Coliseum could win city approval and fight off possible lawsuits.
"It is unlikely this project will be built," said Philip K. Howard,...
