[NYguy]

https://citylimits.org/2019/06/06/tw...o-power-ulurp/

Two Bridges Foes Win a Round in Suit Over Mayoral Power


By Sadef Ali Kully
June 6, 2019

A Supreme Court justice presiding over multiple lawsuits concerning a large-scale development plan in Two Bridges listened to each party for hours in a packed courtroom Wednesday but reserved judgement on a case challenging the power of the mayor to decide when a project can escape public review.

In a major win for advocacy groups, the judge ruled that a temporary restraining order against the Two Bridges development would stay in place.

A significant element of the controversy over the Two Bridges proposals is that the de Blasio administration has determined they represent only a “minor modification” of an existing special permit on the parcels and therefore do no require a full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP.

One lawsuit comes from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer in tandem with the City Council. Different groups of Chinatown and Lower East Side community groups have filed three separate lawsuits against the city and the Two Bridges developers group.

The City Council and Brewer lawsuit contends the City Planning Commission’s “minor modification” analysis was incorrect and the approval of special permits in the area “demands” a public review.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued a continued temporary restraining order against the Two Bridges development project until August 2 so he could consider the case further.

The lawyers from the City and the developers for the Two Bridges project said that there was no need for a ULURP process because the development project did not require changing the zoning of the area. “The size of the buildings do not matter here,” said Janice Mac Avoy, representing the group behind the development project. “Although the height is significant, it does not matter because that is what the zoning allowed here in the LSRD.”

Justice Engoron responded, “But the size here is an 800-pound gorilla,” he said. The quiet room let out a ripple of snickers.

Mac Avoy continued with the same argument that the ULURP has nothing to do with the size of the development because the project is complying with the underlying zoning therefore making it exempt from public review. (The developers did agree to participate in a joint environmental review and there were public hearings as part of that, but by avoiding ULURP the de Blasio administration and developers avoid the possibility of a “no” vote in the CIty Council that would kill the project.)