Officials File Zoning Amendment To Block Waterfront Towers

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Two local officials are trying a new tactic to block plans for high rises near the Two Bridges waterfront.

Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer and Council Member Margaret Chin filed a zoning text amendment last week that, if approved, would require the towers to go through a public review process. Developers plan to build four towers, all of them over 700 feet, in the Two Bridges area, the stretch of Lower East Side waterfront between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. The new buildings would transform the Two Bridges waterfront and likely accelerate gentrification in the area. Local residents and activists have forcefully opposed the towers since they were first announced.

The Department of City Planning decided last year that the neighborhood’s zoning restrictions didn’t require a public review process. Brewer, Chin and other local residents have vehemently opposed the department’s decision, arguing that the agency misinterpreted the zoning restrictions and that the plans should be subject to a public review. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The amending that Brewer and Chin filed on Thursday would require a new permit for certain developments in the area. If approved, the amendment would stipulate that large proposals — like the Two Bridges towers — would need a complete and thorough review before being approved. This review, known as the uniform land use review procedure, or ULURP, is one that activists have been pushing for for months.

“After helping build up this community, Two Bridges residents deserve the right to take back control and shape the future of their neighborhood,” Chin said in a statement. “Since we first heard about these proposed mega-developments, Borough President Brewer and I have made our demands clear: we need a real, transparent public review process."

The amendment is one of a number of options that anti-megatower activists are pursuing before the construction begins and the changes are irreversible. Chin has also introduced a bill that would require City Planning to review land use applications more quickly. A text amendment on the bill would force a ULURP process on the towers.

Image credit: Rendering via CityRealty