July 16, 2018

Hon. Margery Perlmutter, Chair
And Honorable Members of the Board
Board of Standards and Appeals
250 Broadway, 29th floor
New York, NY 10007

RE:     BSA Cal. No. 2017-290A
            180 East 88th Street, Manhattan

Dear Chair Perlmutter and Honorable Members of the Board:

We ask the Board of Standards and Appeals to prohibit the creation of unbuildable lots designed to evade zoning regulations. Allowing developers to create unbuildable lots that serve no purpose other than to avoid zoning regulations has serious implications for New York City not just Manhattan. In this example at 180 East 88th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the creation of a tiny new lot between the development site and the street serves only as a physical ploy so the building can circumvent zoning regulations that apply to buildings when they front a street. As a result of this tactic, the building does not come to the street, and instead can be built taller with a private residential plaza, which zoning no longer allows.

After first issuing a stop work order, the Buildings Department improperly approved this site, explicitly violating the intent of zoning intended to foster livable neighborhoods and good urban design. Allowing this tactic to continue sets a precedent that undermines urban design regulations that apply when buildings front streets. Permitting the obvious circumvention of zoning rules through deliberate creation of unbuildable lots will lead to more abuses of loopholes in the Zoning Resolution throughout the City of New York.

We are already seeing a pattern of buildings sculpting their zoning lot to avoid regulations with the gerrymandered lot at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan’s West Side. If the Board allows these maneuvers to continue, it will undermine the predictability of development in New York City, and at 180 E 88th Street, it will nullify zoning provisions that require streetwalls, permanently altering the character of our neighborhoods. We urge you to uphold and protect our

Zoning Resolution and rule against the creation of unbuildable lots created explicitly to circumvent the City’s rules.

Sincerely,