Land Use

Politicians, community advocates and developers are looking to the future of Manhattan development following an unprecedented court ruling this month ordering the removal of 20 floors from a nearly finished Upper West Side tower. One lawmaker is already at work to use the decision to cut the height of another supertall across town.

Council Member Ben Kallos, who represents part of Midtown and the Upper East Side, was one of the several elected officials who turned out to celebrate Judge Franc Perry’s decision to revoke the building permits for the 59-story tower at 69th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Quickly, Kallos, who is running for Manhattan Borough President when Gale Brewer leaves the post in 2021, got his wheels turning and saw that Perry’s ruling opened a window to reargue the legality of the 847-foot Sutton Tower being constructed at 430 East 58th Street in his district.

“In both cases, I think what we have in common is if you have a Department of Buildings and a city that is complicit in allowing people to break the law, whether or not people can profit off their crimes,” said Kallos. “What jurisprudence typically says is, no. If you do something wrong, you shouldn't get to profit from it.”

Dive Brief:

• A New York State Supreme Court judge has revoked the building permit for a 668-foot-tall residential tower in Manhattan, a decision that could force the developers to remove 20 floors from the top of the nearly complete structure, Bisnow reported. Attorneys for developers of the 200 Amsterdam property, SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, said they would appeal the verdict.
• The complaint, brought by the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development (CFESD) and the Municipal Art Society of New York, alleged that the New York City Department of Buildings was incorrect in its decision to issue a permit for the building because the property sits on a "gerrymandered zoning lot" and was "cobbled together" out of six existing lots in order to meet zoning requirements. The lawsuit said both the DOB and the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), which upheld the DOB's decision to issue the permit, were wrong in their interpretation of zoning laws and contradicted a previous New York State Supreme Court order. 
• Scott Mollen, the attorney representing SJP and Mitsui, said there are at least 20 other buildings in Manhattan that were constructed under a building permit similar to that of 200 Amsterdam. If the developers lose the appeal, he said, it could have similar repercussions for other developers and even force tenants in other buildings to vacate their units.​

Advocates applaud decision while developers find decision deeply flawed. On February 15, 2020, the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development and the Municipal Art Society of New York,  won an Article 78 case regarding the construction of a 668 foot, 52-story condominium building located at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. New York County Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry’s ruling requires the developers, SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, remove up to potentially 20 floors of the development.

The developers, in order to build higher and larger than what is normally permitted “as-of-right,” sought a transfer of development rights through a Zoning Lot Merger. A Zoning Lot Merger is not technically a transfer of development rights, but a shifting of development rights within a unified zoning lot. In many cases, but certainly not all cases, zoning lots can be contiguous to the tax lots. In this case the developer entered into agreements to transfer the development rights from two tax lots and portions of four other tax lots, resulting in a 39-sided zoning lot. On September 27, 2017, the Department of Buildings issued the developer a building permit to construct the high-rise condominium building with the additional development rights.

A stunning decision from the New York State Supreme Court that could force developers to tear down already-built floors from their Manhattan skyscraper could have massive implications for other buildings in the city under construction — and possibly some that are already built.
 

 

 

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A recent court ruling that could force Upper West Side developers to chop floors off of a controversial Amsterdam Avenue development may have a ripple effect on the other side of Central Park, according to new reports.

Upper East Side City Councilman Ben Kallos may use the ruling as the basis of a challenge against the super-tall development planned for 430 E. 58th St. in the small Sutton Place neighborhood, he told the New York Post. The building has long been the bane of neighborhood preservationists, who proposed and passed a Sutton Place rezoning plan to implement strict building height limits.

 

 

 

An opportunistic lawmaker hopes to use a controversial ruling that would knock 20 stories off of a nearly-complete Upper West Side condo highrise to cut another building in Midtown down to size.

“We’re going to file a motion to [re]argue based on this,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), who represents a swath of Midtown and the Upper East Side.

The lawmaker’s target is an 847-foot pencil-thin skyscraper currently under construction at 430 East 58th Street that he would like to see cut down to just 400 feet.

Manhattanites are rallying to chop the tops off so-called supertall skyscrapers.

A court last week ruled that SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan must demolish the top 20 floors of their skyscraper at 200 Amsterdam Avenue (pictured top) after Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry found they had flouted zoning regulations.

Now, activists are looking to apply the same rules to a second supertall at 430 East 58th Street.

“This groundbreaking decision averts a dangerous precedent that would have ultimately affected every corner of the city,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) which led the case against the 200 Amsterdam developers.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The city has been decreasing its use of chemical pesticides over the past several years, but now there’s a call to stop using them entirely.

One organization says they’re using them more in communities of color declaring “environmental racism,” reports CBS2’s Vanessa Murdock.

“Poison Parks” is the claim of a special report just released by The Black Institute. They focus on New York City’s use of the chemical pesticide glyphosate, a likely carcinogen that’s found in the weed killer Roundup.

The Black Institute asserts the city engaged in “environmental racism” by using the pesticide more frequently and at higher concentrations in parks used by people of color.

“The specific problem is that folks on these communities, on a nice day they don’t go to the Hamptons upstate – they go to their local park in the city around them,” said Dan Hogle, campaign organizer at The Black Institute.

“The racial analysis in this report does not align with reality,” said the Parks Department when asked about the institute’s accusations.

The report, released Wednesday demands Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council “ban the use of glyphosate.” It comes the same day members of the city council held a hearing on Bill 1524.

“This bill basically says glyphosate and other carcinogens can’t be sprayed on city property, particularly parks,” said District 5 Council Member Ben Kallos, the bill’s author.

Kallos introduced a similar bill years ago after listening to kindergarteners from PS 290 sing. Some of the same students showed up to testify.

“It will affect a lot of people in a positive way,” said Jesse Balsam, now an 11-year-old sixth-grader.

“I don’t want me, or any of my siblings, or anyone else I don’t even know from running around the park getting sick from the pesticides,” said 10-year-old Leo Balsam.

Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh says the Parks Department supports not using chemical pesticides but acknowledged it would limit managing invasive species.

“Estimate it would take three to five mechanical applications to replace one successful application of properly used and targeted herbicide,” he said.

Bill sponsors expressed confidence they have a veto-proof majority to get the bill passed this spring.

The Black Institute also wanted to see glyphosate banned at the state level.

 

 

 

Department of Buildings officials pledged to hold building-owners "feet to the fire" after designer Erica Tishman was killed by a falling chunk of debris in Times Square last month. 

Councilman Ben Kallos praised the department's actions but warned against reliance on scaffolding.

"Ultimately the solution isn't just to put sidewalk sheds everywhere," Kallos said. "We need to get to a place where folks are actually doing the work to maintain their buildings."

No ‘Silver Bullet’ In a statement to THE CITY, Abigail Kunitz, a DOB spokesperson said, “Building owners are on notice as we continue with proactive inspections, strong enforcement actions, and direct outreach, to ensure they are held accountable for keeping their buildings safe.” Councilmember Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) called the increased inspections a step in the right direction, but expressed concern about even further proliferating the sidewalk sheds that blanket many blocks. Kallos has been trying to push reforms for years in the hope of reducing the number of sheds by mandating repairs be done more quickly. “If there is the potential for a piece of a facade from a building to fall on somebody, I would prefer it gets fixed as soon as possible. And while that’s happening, there should be something to protect people who are going by,” he said. “But this whole idea of let’s just get the sidewalk sheds up and everyone will be saved — it is far from a silver bullet.”