Borough Pres Threatens Legal Challenge Against UES NYCHA Project

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer threatened legal action against Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration should the mayor pursue zoning overrides to green light a planned 50-story development on Upper East Side land owned by the New York City Housing Authority.

Brewer, who has vocally opposed the project in the past, penned a letter to de Blasio saying she will challenge the project using "appropriate legal remedies" if the city and developer Fetner Properties does not submit plans to build a 50-story development on the Holmes Towers campus for the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The letter was first spotted and reported on by THE CITY.

"The decision to avoid ULURP for this infill development stands in contradiction to your

administration’s commitment to “engage communities in comprehensive planning” as put forth
in one of Housing New York’s two fundamental objectives," Brewer writes in her letter to de Blasio.

The tower — to be built by Fetner Properties — will rise 530 feet above East 92nd Street and will contain 339 apartment units, half of which will be offered at market rates and half of which will be offered at regulated below-market rates, according to building plans filed with the city.

Fetner will pay NYCHA $25 million up front for a 99-year ground lease at the site. All of the money will be used by NYCHA to fund repairs at the Holmes Towers, officials said.

NYCHA plans to request three mayoral zoning overrides to allow Fetner to construct a building that does not conform to the site's current zoning regulations, NYCHA's Director of New Construction Matthew Charney said during a January public hearing on the project.

The three mayoral zoning overrides will allow Fetner to:

• Build an ADA-accessible ramp leading to an athletic field that would otherwise be too close to existing NYCHA buildings;
• Construct a tall structure that would otherwise violate the city's mandated "sky exposure plane" — a regulation to set back buildings in order to ensure light and air at street level in dense zoning districts;
• Build 2.3 percent less open space on the lot than required for the maximum amount of residential development density allowed for the site's zoning district.

Brewer's letter also voiced concern on the amount of money NYCHA will receive in exchange for the land. The borough president claims that Fetner will receive more than $60 million in subsidies from the government to cover building costs.

"Full public review will allow a complete airing of the costs and benefits to the City as a whole and the surrounding community," Brewer wrote in the letter.

Read Patch's previous coverage on opposition to the tower here.

Brewer's full letter is included below: