Judge extends 2 Bridges stop-work
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
A New York Supreme Court judge extended a
temporary restraining order to block developers
from beginning work on three high-rise
towers in The Lower East Side’s Two Bridges neighborhood.
The ruling is a temporary win for advocacy groups,
the City Council and Borough President Gale Brewer.
The Post reported that Justice Arthur Engoron said
on Wednesday, the city’s opinion seems to be: “We
can do pretty much anything we want because zoning
allows it. I just can’t believe that’s the case.”
Brewer tweeted: “It’s hard to see how these projects
can continue without public review. Totally agree!”
The extension runs until Aug. 2, when Engoron will
present a written decision on whether the planned
1,008-foot rental tower at 247 Cherry St. by JDS Developments;
a planned 798-foot tower at 260 South
St. by L+M Development and CIM Group; and a proposed
730-foot building at 259 Clinton St. by Starrett
Corporation would require approval under the city’s
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, before
starting construction.
The neighborhood was formerly designated an Urban
Renewal Area, where the city tried to improve living
conditions by creating mixed-income housing and
employment opportunities. In 1972, Two Bridges was
designated a Large-Scale Residential Development, or
L.S.R.D., area, under which the city is more lenient
on normal land-use regulations in order to promote
good site planning of large buildings that span multiple
property lots.
According to the city’s Environmental Impact Statement
Established 1958
TOWING
FROM
ANY
LOCATION
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Marc Richardson, of Land’s End One Tenants
Association, also a member of TUFF-LES, was
among the speakers at the Wed., June 5, protest
against the Two Bridges tower projects.
for this current L.S.R.D. project, the towers
would create more than 2,700 new residential units,
690 of those affordable. Of the affordable units, 200
would be for seniors. Critics say it is unclear how the
affordability would be measured. The towers would
also create 11,000 square feet of retail space.
Opponents argue it was wrong for the City Planning
Commission, last year, to O.K. a joint “minor
modifi cation” application on a special permit for the
multi-building project, which allowed the towers to
skirt going through a ULURP public review.
Last December, two days after the towers got the
LET OUR CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
COLLECT FROM THE RESPONSIBLE
INSURANCE COMPANY TO
REPAIR YOUR CAR TO FACTORY
SPECIFICATIONS AND DELIVER
IT TO YOU WITH THAT NEW
CAR SHOWROOM LOOK WHILE
DRIVING AN IMMEDIATE
REPLACEMENT CAR RENTAL.
IMMEDIATE CAR RENTAL
green light from City Planning, the City Council,
under Speaker Corey Johnson, along with Borough
President Brewer, fi led a lawsuit in Manhattan State
Supreme Court against the Department of City Planning,
the City Planning Commission and Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s administration. Brewer and Johnson argued
that the decision usurped the City Council’s
power over land-use issues and that the development
was nothing close to a “minor modifi cation” to the
existing neighborhood. Another opponent of the towers,
Councilmember Margaret Chin, added that the
project must go through ULURP because of the impact
it would have on density and traffi c, among other
things, in the working-class neighborhood.
In March, a collection of Lower East Side and Chinatown
activist groups, including Lower East Side
Neighbors, Chinese Staff and Workers Association,
Youth Against Displacement and National Mobilization
Against Sweatshops, along with local residents,
fi led another lawsuit demanding a complete stop of
the towers, saying they would exacerbate gentrifi cation.
They also argued that the large-scale residential
development designation does not exempt the towers
from broader zoning laws regulating the impact they
would have on light and air in the neighborhood.
In March, a second lawsuit against the Two Bridges
L.S.R.D. project was fi led by another group of community
organizations, including Tenants United Fighting
for the Lower East Side (TUFF-LES), CAAAV: Organizing
Asian Communities, Good Old Lower East
Side (GOLES), Land’s End One Tenants Association,
and LaGuardia Houses Tenants Association. That suit
argues that the project’s approval should be annulled
since the city did not follow the right process.
ANYTIME
37 ST
FT HAMI LTON PKY
36 ST
SHOP
CHURCH AV
OCEAN AV
FLATBUSH AV
CATON AV
LY N D E N BLV D
McDONALD AV
CONEY ISLAND AV
PA R K
SLOPE
FLATBUSH
LEAVE ALL YOUR CONCERNS WITH US
SATISFACTION IS OUR CONCERN!
3511 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11218
- 10 Blocks from Ocean Parkway on Ft. Hamilton Parkway -
Offi cial Insurance Inspection Station
CALL
24/7
BAY
RIDGE
NEW
UTRECT
A short drive thru the Battery Tunnel from Manhattan
Schneps Media TVG June 13, 2019 11