A Manhattan judge slammed city lawyers Wednesday after a marathon of hearings about controversial plans to add luxury high-rise apartment buildings to the Two Bridges housing development downtown.
Justice Arthur Engoron said city lawyers seem to think, “we can do pretty much anything we want because zoning allows it. I just can’t believe that’s the case.”
Dozens of opponents of the project who showed up to Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday cheered and clapped at Engoron’s words.
City lawyers spent the day arguing that the City Planning Commission’s move to approve the project to add four buildings — all 60 stories and up — didn’t require a public review process with the City Council and the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
City lawyer Rachel Moston said the CPC doesn’t “have a dog in this fight.”
“What they [CPC] did was interpret the provisions in the New York City Charter. They came out that ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] was simply not required,” Moston added.
“I like housing, but I don’t see that this can be built without … City Council having a say in this,” Engoron added.
“The magnitude and physical size of the building don’t matter,” a lawyer for the developers of the project, Janice Macavoy, said later to groans from the audience.
Engoron chimed in, “Size is the 800-pound gorilla in the courtroom.”
But Macavoy responded that “zoning does not restrict the height.”
Earlier in the day City Council lawyer Debra Greenberger said, “What is important is that there are negotiations.” She said this will provide accountability, transparency on issues such as trying to mitigate the environmental impact of the project.
Three lawsuits were brought against the city and the CPC by local residents, the City Council and Brewer to block the project — which would add nearly 3,000 units to the area — until it’s put through public review.
The new buildings will have 694 affordable housing units — 25% of the total.
Engoron continued a temporary restraining order halting the plans until he issues a written order in early August.
After, a Two Bridges resident, Grace Mak, said she was one of the people that clapped at the judge’s words.
“We were totally absolutely relieved because the developers didn’t think we had a winning chance,” Mak, 45, said.
“All we wanted was a fair public equitable review to stop these developers from robbing the community,” Mak said, by constructing the buildings without mitigating possible displacement of the current residents and a loss of open spaces.