Judge Rules Permits for 200 Amsterdam Avenue Should Be Revoked, and Building Reduced in Size

West Side Rag ^ | 16 Feb 2020 | Carol Tannenhauser

[DUMBGRUNT]

In an extraordinary ruling, a state supreme court judge has ordered the developers of a nearly completed 668-foot block of flats in New York to remove as many as 20 or more floors from the top of the building.

Scott Mollen, a lawyer with the firm Herrick Feinstein, which is representing the project, said the ruling contradicted earlier decisions from the Department of Buildings and the Board of Standards and Appeals that were based on a long-established zoning interpretation. SJP, one of the developers, said they would “appeal this decision vigorously”.

What comes next is unclear. While further litigation would effectively postpone any disassembly of the tower, sales at the luxury block would also be held up. Marketing is well underway for the 112 luxury apartments, and the most lucrative units are on the top floors — including a $21m (£16m) penthouse, which would likely be removed if the decision stands.

[bigdaddy45]

I am personally glad a factory can’t be built across the street from my house.

[exDemMom]

I could understand a judge (or even a zoning board) holding up construction if there was a credible judicial challenge in process, but an after-the-fact revocation of the permit (or at least the last 20 floors of it) seems crazy. Maybe the developer pulled a fast one on the board, but as long as the board has the power of review and approval, I think its approval should stand.

I knew someone who owned an apartment building in Los Angeles. Somehow, the city discovered that the building had been split into apartments back in the 1920s without the proper permits. My friend was forced to undo the work done back in the 1920s and turn the apartment building back into a large house. I think the thing that upset him the most was that he had to evict ten year tenants in order to do the (un)construction. Like, the city could not find a way to maybe inspect the work and help him get it up to code? They had to punish him for someone's actions before he was born?

[lastchance]

Oh I agree with you. I was supposing what I thought happened. A developer in nearby Stuart had to take down several full completed buildings a few years back because of a similar disagreement on zoning/land use interpretation.

The developers in the NYC case was warned about the court challenges. I bet they proceeded because delay would mean a loss of $$$ from investors.

[proxy_user]

Well, they did start building while the legality of their interpretation of the law was still being litigated. They probably hoped that even if their maneuverings were ruled unlawful, they could say too bad, we already finished building it!

However, it appears their plan did not work out.

[Theoria]

Sounds fair. Just because it has been done a certain sketchy way in the past, doesn’t mean it will fly now.

[bigbob]

This isn’t about not having zoning ffs, it’s about unilaterally changing what was agreed to after it’s built.

[KarlInOhio]

Back to School first business class

Oh, you left out a bunch of stuff.

Oh, really? Like what, for instance?

First of all, you have to grease the local politicians for the sudden zoning problems that always come up.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Sure, they probably knew that there was a legal challenge in the making.

But to me, the real issue is whether or not the approval for that building was granted. That’s when the appeals should be going on, and perhaps they should be able to postpone building until they are resolved (although that’s a kind of taking, too. Look at the endless wrangling over pipelines.)

So, my feeling is that the process has to end somewhere, and it should end with the building plan approval. It should be possible to appeal during that process, however. You need to have a balance between any appellant holding up any construction indefinitely, and a court coming in after the fact.

I live on Cape Cod. About 25 miles further out, in a town called Truro, something like this happened. Somebody got the town fathers to approve an 8000 foot trophy house up on the dunes over the objections and legal intervention of neighbors. The technicality was whether it was an expansion or a new building. Aesthetically speaking, it was a new building, of course. But, the board approved it, and the building was built.

Eventually it wound up in a higher court, and the permit was reversed. They’ve been fighting for years—I think the last I heard was that it was supposed to be torn down, but I’m not sure. However, I am sure that in the intervening years, one of the things that occurred was that the owner of the property died.

I tended to lean towards the owner/builder’s case. But, he was warned by the judge in a lower court that the ruling could eventually be overturned. Life is short, evidently, and he went ahead.

I don’t know if that warning was clear here, or implied.

[setter]

“Zoning is evil,Free market works best, not commie corrupt centralized planning.”

I live in an area with little to no zoning. It’s a mess. Someone with a $5000 trailer with tires on the roof puts it right next a brand new housing development, Junkyards spring up right across a new housing development, ugly buildings built that do not match the surrounding architecture

[RandallFlagg]

He has had to deal with city politicians his entire adult life.

Umm, you mis-spelled the words, "Taxpayer Funded Extortionists."

;-)

[Macoozie]

“Most people would rather not have a auto reclaim and salvage yard next door. Just an example.”

That’s not what happened and is ALWAYS the shabbiest of strawmen.

RE your example:
More often than not, the auto recyler was active at the location since after WWII soldiers returned and started the business.
The modest homes and buildings next to the junkyard get bought on-the-cheap by “Urban Homesteaders”, with full knowledge of the junkyard next door. They start screeching about enviro this and pollution that, and get the yard closed down.
I’ve seen it happen to THREE junkyards within 3 hours of me. The latest one put 650K$ 2 bed pods ontop of a place from which I bought more than one SBC. Also to 3 Landscaping yards, one owned by an extended family member, where the mulch was given FREE, then the Newbies moved in, complained about the smell, and it was closed and property sold (for a small fortune).

Project in the article was approved, and built in Manhattan (Manhattan, is just one of the 5 boroughs of NYC) for goodness sakes, the LAND OF SKYSCRAPERS.

Neighbors don’t like it, MOVE.

It’s not a blow to history like the Pennsylvania Station for MSG was. This is just a mid-sized tower in DemoRat UWS.

[setter]

I live out in a rural area no zoning.

A very upscale housing development was built on an old farm. A few years later a farm right across the street came up for sale and a trucking firm bought it and they park 100 semis in there and repair them. Wrecked semis are brought in and parked there. There is no fence around the place

A friend of ours built their dream home there and the house faces the eyesore. The wife cannot even go out on the front porch without bursting into tears.

[Rj Snows]

What part of the country do you live?

[Roccus]

This is an image of 33 Thomas St. (originally called 333 Broadway) in NYC from the Worth St. side, looking South. Broadway is to the left. The building was to occupy the entire block (on the N, Worth st- on the W, Church St- on the S, Thomas ST and on the E, Broadway)

In order to get a zoning variance the phone company (either AT&T or NYTel) had to provide X amount of open, public space. Construction started and was moving along at a brisk pace. Then the Landmarks Commission stepped in. They wanted to declare the buildings occupying the Broadway side as "landmarks" because of their cast iron fronts.
As the lawsuits wound their way through the courts and bureaucracies the first 2/3rds of the building was completed and the land where the last 1/3 was to be erected was left as an open, public area. For years the East (Broadway) side of the building was left a raw concrete wall, with "I" beams protruding at the level of each floor.
Long story short, the Landmarks Commission won, the cast iron fronted buildings remain on B'way*, the exposed "I" beams were cut off, the polished stone skin was installed on the East side of the building, the new open, public space remained and was decorated with plantings and benches and the skyline of NYC had a new 2/3rd of a building silhouette.

*Note.....There are many cast iron fronted buildings in Manhattan. In fact, there is an area called the "Cast Iron District", so the buildings I'm talking about are far from unique.....however, across B'way from these buildings is a place called 26 Federal Plaza, the front entrance to the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building.

[setter]

“More often than not, the auto recyler was active at the location since after WWII soldiers returned and started the business.”

Nope. See my post right below

[setter]

What part of the country do you live?

Appalachian

[Alberta's Child]

I thought the same thing, but then I read the details of the story and saw that the developer was warned to proceed cautiously on the project due to the uncertainties surrounding this legal challenge.

Full disclosure: SJP Properties is a large real estate development firm run by its founder and CEO, Steven J. Pozycki. I know the company as a local player here in the NYC metro region.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Plank #1 of the Communist Manifesto: “Abolition of private property in land and application of all rents of land to public purpose.”

http://laissez-fairerepublic.com/TenPlanks.html

[Alberta's Child]

Most people have no idea about how zoning works, and I've gotten used to seeing all kinds of nonsense posted online about how "evil" it is.

I have news for you: If you live in a home that is connected to any form of public infrastructure, you gave away much of your "freedom" without even so much as a whimper.

[Alberta's Child]

Free market works best, not commie corrupt centralized planning.

Have you ever lived next door to a hog farm?