Ethics Complaint Filed Against Margaret Chin By LES Activists

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Community activists who oppose the trio of skyscrapers slated for the Two Bridges area filed an ethics complaint with a City Council committee against Councilwoman Margaret Chin — but the panel rejected the stunt.

Activists with the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side filed an ethics complaint with the City Council's Committee on Standards and Ethics against Chin — who is among the committee’s five members — accusing her of neglecting to enforce zoning law by not outright opposing the mega-towers planned for the neighborhood.

In a joint application filed by four developers, JDS Development Group aims to erect a 1,008-foot rental tower at 247 Cherry Street, while CIM Group and L+M Development Partners plan a 798-foot two-tower project on a shared base at 260 South Street. Additionally, Starrett Development aims to raise a 730-foot building at 250 Clinton Street — the developments would hold more than 2,700 new residential units all together.

Twenty-five percent — or 690 — of those units will be affordable and of those, 200 would be set aside for seniors — although details of how affordability will be measured have not been publicly released.

The Two Bridges section, which used to be an Urban Renewal Area, allows for greater flexibility on land-use regulations when it comes to building residential projects that span multiple property lots because it was designated a Large-Scale Residential Development area in 1972.

A source of major controversy for the project is that the de Blasio administration determined that the massive project represents only a “minor modification,” and therefore does not require an extensive land use review, known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure or ULURP.

Councilwoman Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer introduced a text amendment that would force the Two Bridges application into a special permit to trigger the ULURP process. But it is currently stalled in reviews.

Some locals say the text amendment does not go far enough and argue that the project violates land use regulations, specifically article 7 chapter 8, by changing the neighborhood's character and negatively impacting the environment.

Activists with the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side argued at a Wednesday rally in front of Chin's office that as the local council member it is her responsibility to enforce the zoning law and in not doing so she has allowed the violation to go unanswered.

"The one person who has the power to stand up to Mayor de Blasio and his developer friends has refused to call for the enforcement of this law, instead what she’s proposing is a phony ULURP process where the community can pretend to have a say," said organizer David Tieu at a Wednesday rally in front of Chin's Downtown office.

Tieu and community activists tried to hand deliver a copy of the ethics complaint to Chin on Wednesday, but were turned away by security guards. At the rally outside her office, some two dozen people chanted "Who's the criminal? Margaret Chin" while waving signs scrawled with "Margret Chin stop helping de Blasio's agenda" and "Protest against Margaret Chin selling out Chinatown & LES."

The councilwoman should be held responsible with an investigation of her conduct, claimed Tieu.

“It’s the city's responsibility to enforce the law," he said.

“I understand these buildings are not up yet but it’s clear that she intends to violate the law for the benefit of the developers so that’s why we’re here today to say our community is not going to stand for it.”

Tieu filed the ethics complaint by emailing it to the Committee on Standards and Ethics chairman, Councilman Steven Matteo, who represents part of Staten Island, and forwarding it to the rest of the committee. But the panel has no intention of investigating the complaint.

"Disagreements between community organizations and Council Members over Land Use decisions do not fall under the purview of the Committee on Standards and Ethics," said City Council spokesman Jacob Tugendrajch.

A spokesman for Chin's office called the attempt at submitting an ethics complaint "disturbing."

"This shameless attempt to distract communities is disturbing, especially at such a critical moment in our efforts to save the Two Bridges neighborhood from the threat of out of scale luxury overdevelopment — a moment that requires all of us to be awake, alert and united," said Ian Chan.

"We will not allow individuals to delude the community or discount the incredible work that has been done by resident leaders, advocates and elected officials in the fight to preserve Two Bridges' legacy of affordability. Our fight continues."

The public had until Oct. 29 to submit comments on the developments. Now the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project will be reviewed before the City Planning Commission schedules a vote on the application.

Photo courtesy of New York City Council