LES Activists Gear Up For Suit Against Two Bridges Towers

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Local activist group Lower East Side Organized Neighbors is preparing to file a lawsuit against the City Planning Commission after the panel approved a plan for three towering developments to rise in Two Bridges.

The suit would join another filed against the agency last week by the City Council and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, but differs from the elected officials push to force the project into the extensive Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, by arguing that the towers violate zoning law and should not be built altogether.

Lower East Side Organized Neighbors is filing the suit on behalf of the Collation to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side — a consortium of community groups and small businesses — in and near the Two Bridges area.

The group is working with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund to legally challenge the towers validity and is kicking off their efforts by preparing an article 78 proceeding, which will appeal the city's approval, against the City Planning Commission's vote in favor of the trio of developments backed by four developers.

"We’re challenging that these towers are arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of [the city's] discretion," Audrey Win, an attorney with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said at a Wednesday town hall packed with some 200 locals.

The challenge targets the joint application for a minor modification that would allow three new mixed-use, high-rise projects: A 1,008-foot building at 247 Cherry St. by JDS Development Group, a 798-foot two-tower project on a shared base at 260 South St. by L+M Development Partners and CIM Group, and a 730-foot building at 259 Clinton St. by the Starrett Corporation.

Several community activists have long-railed against the de Blasio administration's determination that the massive towers represent only a minor modification and therefore are not required to go through ULURP. The City Planning Commission approved the application in a 10-3 vote on Dec. 5 — with at least one member disagreeing with chairwoman Marisa Lago's assessment that, legally, the commission's hands are tied.

“Our message has always been clear from day one: No towers, no comprise,” David Tieu, with Lower East Side Organized Neighbors, told residents at the town hall.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund aim to file a full-blown suit against the City Planning Commission before Christmas, arguing that the developments violate zoning text article 7 section 8 on "Special Regulations Applying to Large-Scale Residential Developments" — which allows for greater flexibility for development on vacant land as long as "public health, safety and general welfare" safeguards are put in place.

Win urged Lower East Side and Chinatown residents to organize and pressure their local elected officials to stand against the development.

"The more you challenge this — the more public outcry there is, the more pressure there is on public officials — the more a lawsuit matters," Win said. "Because unless you put weight on De Blasio, a judge saying this is wrong is not going to matter as much."

In Friday court proceedings involving the suit City Council and the Manhattan Borough President brought against the city, the Department of City Planning agreed not to issue approvals to the Department of Buildings for the three developments to begin construction until the next court date in February.

“As a result of court proceedings Friday, all development is paused until we return to court,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted Sunday. “We are happy our efforts in court were successful in ensuring development will not proceed until the court has an opportunity to hear our case on the merits.”

But the city’s Law Department said the developers can move forward with preliminary work.

"This court ruling enables the developers to move forward with obtaining the preliminary approvals that are necessary before development of the sites," said Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman with the city's Law Department.

A handful of other community groups are mobilizing against the project with plans for lawsuits, such as Good Old Lower East Side, Tenants United Fighting for Lower East Side and Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.

As of Thursday midday, no additional legal filings targeting the developments were filed against the city, according to Paolucci.

In the meantime, Good Old Lower East Side, Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side and Community Board 3 announced Friday that they're renewing a push to rezone the area through the creation of a Special Lower East Side and Chinatown Waterfront District.

The district could create long-term protections for tenants by introducing tenant anti-harassment measures, placing limits on banks and drugstores and capping all new construction to 350 feet.

“As residents, we applaud the City Council for taking the bold step of filing a lawsuit,” said Grace Mak, a Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side board member. “We hope they will continue to move strongly in favor of just, equitable and community-led development by supporting our rezoning of the Two Bridges waterfront.”

Photo courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch