Natural History Museum Ordered To Temporarily Halt Expansion

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A group challenging the American Museum of Natural History's right to expand into Theodore Roosevelt Park won the support of a state supreme court justice in its legal challenge to stop the $383 million project.

Justice Lynn Kotler issued a temporary restraining order preventing the museum from removing any additional trees and conducting any construction or demolition work related to the new Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation in Theodore Roosevelt Park, the group Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park announced this week.

The Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park argues that the city was incorrect to approve the plan without initiating the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a public approvals process for new developments and land use actions.

The Gilder Center will expand the museum's footprint in Theodore Roosevelt Park by just a quarter-acre, but much more than a quarter-are is at stake in the legal fight, attorney Michael Hiller said.

"At its core, this case is about whether City government will allow Theodore Roosevelt Park to be swallowed up by Museum development, corner-to-corner and sidewalk-to-sidewalk, without any oversight, meaningful environmental review or input from the community," Hiller said in a statement.

"Teddy Roosevelt would be cheering the Court’s decision."

Work on the Gilder Center began in September, when construction vehicles were brought into Theodore Roosevelt Park and the museum began closing some park entrances to put up construction barriers. Work that was being done at the site included constructing a temporary park access path near West 80th street and installation of tree protection, a museum spokesman said. Once those two tasks are complete, workers will install the construction site fence for the Gilder Center project, the spokesman said.

Opponents of the plan said that work has already resulted in the removal of three of the park's trees and other vegetation such as shrubs and small plants.

The American Museum of Natural History intends to appeal Justice Kotler's ruling, a museum spokesman said in a statement.

"Enhancing science literacy has never been more important than it is now, and the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation will add significant capacity to the Museum’s ability to fulfill this important part of our mission," the museum's statement reads.

"The Gilder Center, like all applicable Museum projects, has complied with New York City’s rigorous environmental review process, which in this case lasted approximately two years and included multiple levels of review and public consultation. The City of New York and the Museum have the right to bring this matter at this time to the appellate court and we intend to do so."

The American Museum of Natural History filed building plans for the Gilder Center in August 2017 after receiving approvals for the project from Community Board 7 and the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2016.

The $383 Gilder Center will expand the American Museum of Natural History's footprint into Theodore Roosevelt Park by a quarter-acre, according to museum plans. The new five-story facility will add a total of 230,000 square feet of space to the American Museum of Natural History, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings. The American Museum of Natural History plans to complete the Gilder Center open by 2020 for the museum's 150th anniversary celebration.

Photo courtesy Ralph Appelbaum Associates