Skyscraper Plan For Lower East Side Can't Be Stopped, De Blasio Says

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Mayor Bill de Blasio can't stop super-tall skyscrapers that developers want to build on the Lower East Side despite tremendous community opposition, he said.

At a town hall meeting on Wednesday night, de Blasio said he was powerless to halt the progress of the buildings. Three major developers have plans for at least four skyscrapers in the Two Bridges area – luxury buildings that activists say will drastically change the neighborhood.

City council member Margaret Chin, who represents the area, has long opposed the plans and maintains that a legal halt to the construction can be found. Chin, who moderated the town hall on Wednesday night with de Blasio, slammed the mayor's stance as he insisted that the best he could do is to secure affordable housing units inside the buildings.

"On this one I really disagree with the administration," she said. "It really makes me sick to my stomach, those buildings that they are proposing."

"We don't believe we can just turn it off," he said. "We believe it is legally moving forward."

Rendering courtesy of Handel Architects.