City Rejects Land Use Review Procedure for Two Bridges Mega-Towers

The city just rejected a plea from community members to make the Lower East Side skyline a community discussion.

In late July, we wrote that the Lower East Side skyline could end up looking completely foreign. Four new mega-towers, which would add at least 3,700 apartments to just a three-block area, are in the proposal stage from developers. City Council member Margaret Chin wrote a letter signed by several other city officials to call for a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the new developments, which was rejected this past week by the Department of City Planning.

The process of a ULURP would have made the towers a community discussion. It would have required the developers to be approved by the City Council after discussing plans with the local community board and the borough president.

But on Aug. 11, Carl Weisbrod, director of City Planning, wrote a letter back rejecting the plea for a ULURP. The gist of the letter was that the developments wouldn't require "new waivers or zoning actions" so they were considered "minor modifications" instead of "major modifications," and so they didn't need a ULURP.

Instead, the city requires an Environmental Impact Statement to "closely examine the affect the proposed buildings will have on light and air in the surrounding area, as well as the neighborhood consequences related to increased density (such as the need for schools), among many other factors."

Weisbrod's entire letter can be read over at the Lo-Down.

Chin's spokesperson released a statement:

We are disappointed by the decision not to treat this as a major modification to the Large Scale plan, but are encouraged by the requirement of an Environmental Impact Statement that will address the cumulative impact of these planned developments in the Two Bridges neighborhood. We look forward to working with City Planning, other elected officials, and the community to mitigate the impacts of development, and to make sure the community's voices are heard.

Community members have said they are concerned that an influx of new residents would overcrowd schools and transportation, among other infrastructure.

Here's what the skyline would look like if all the buildings were approved and constructed, according to CityRealty renderings of pre-proposal descriptions from developers:

Image by CityRealty