Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is suing Mayor Bill De Blasio and NYCHA to try to block a controversial planned Upper East Side high-rise.
Brewer says in the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, filed late Thursday, she believes that de Blasio plans to illegally use his power to push through the proposed 50-story apartment tower at East 93rd Street.
The suit also accuses the project of skirting zoning laws and failing to go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which includes a public review.
The planned skyscraper — half of which would be dedicated to affordable housing — is set to be built on Holmes Towers land, which currently houses a playground and walkways.
No plans have been made, either, to replace the structures that would be lost on the land, which is owned by the city Housing Authority and would be rented to the project’s developer, Brewer’s suit says.
Developer Fetner Properties has agreed to pay NYCHA $25 million to lease the land, where the 530-foot “The Bellwether at Yorkville” is slated to be built, according to the court papers.
But Brewer’s suit says the project also doesn’t follow zoning laws and that the mayor plans to illegally use “clandestine” Mayoral Zoning Overrides to bypass the ULURP process.
The building is the first project that is part of a “10-year strategic plan known as NextGeneration NYCHA” which “will raise needed revenue by allowing ‘infill’ development by private developers on open space in NYCHA public housing developments,” the court papers explain.
“By approving the lease and permitting the project, respondents have attempted to improperly and irrevocably evade the Borough President’s statutory role in the review of land use applications,” the suit charges.
Brewer wants the Dec. 19 resolution that allows NYCHA to enter the contract with Fetner to be reversed and the plans to be resubmitted through ULURP.
Brewer also wants a judge to declare the proposed use of the Mayoral Zoning Overrides as outside the defendants’ authority and to issue a temporary restraining order on the project.
NYCHA Interim Chair and CEO Kathryn Garcia is also named as a defendant in the suit for allegedly not submitting the project to ULURP and for seeking the Mayoral Zoning Overrides
The proposed tower has drawn the ire of some local residents, who say they don’t want the noise and dusty construction, lament the loss of their playground and say the affordable-housing units are far from affordable.
Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a spokeswoman with the Mayor’s Office, said, “We are using every tool in our arsenal to reverse decades of federal divestment in NYCHA.
“This project will raise $25 million in critical repairs for Holmes Residents and create new, affordable housing on the Upper East Side.”
A rep with NYCHA said, “we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
A rep for the city Law Department said it is reviewing the lawsuit.
Fetner, which is not named in the suit, did not return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks