Officials Given Just 17 Days To Review Huge Two Bridges Project

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Elected officials slammed the city for moving to certify an impact statement of three controversial skyscrapers on the Two Bridges waterfront weeks before the local community board breaks for the summer — giving the board just 17 days to formally review how the massive project will reshape the community.

The City Planning Commission plans to certify an environmental impact statement on the trio of towers come Monday after months of delays, according to elected officials. As part of the review process, the Lower East Side's Community Board 3 has 60 days to review the study. Typically, the board's land use committee would review the statement in July and the full board would vote on a resolution in August, but because the group does not meet in August, the review and a vote would need to take place in July unless the community board were to call a special meeting.

Councilwoman Margret Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer penned a letter to the City Planning Commission Thursday expressing their outrage and demanding the community board be given additional time to review the impact statement, according to the letter.

"It is with great urgency that we write today," Chin and Brewer wrote in the joint letter. "The timing of this action, coming at the beginning of a two-month period in which the local community meets only once in July, will undoubtedly be seen as a cynical attempt by the applicants to severely limit public engagement and review."

JDS Development Group plans to build a 77-story tower at 247 Cherrt Street, while CIM Group and L+M Development Partners plans two towers on a shared base at 260 South Street. In addition, Starrett Development is planning a 62-story residence at 250 Clinton Street — the developments would hold an estimated 2,682 new housing units altogether.

In October, Chin and Brewer submitted a zoning text amendment that — if approved by the Department of City Planning — would require developers to get a special permit to build in the area bordered by Market, South, Montgomery and Cherry streets.

Developers would have to go through the extensive Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which would require a proposed zoning change to go through several bodies including the local community board, city council and the mayor’s office. Chin and Brewer are required to conduct a separate environmental assessment statement, which is in progress, before the text amendment can be advanced.

The proposed amendment is the latest in a long line of attempts by elected officials and community members to thwart the three skyscrapers from rising on the three-block radius in the largely low-rise, low-income neighborhood.

The Department of City Planning and Community Board 3's district manager did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for the CIM Group and L+M development behind 260 South Street declined to give an on the record comment.

Photo credit: Handel Architects