Judge Throws Out Community Lawsuit Looking To Stop SoHo Rezoning

SoHo, NY — It is full steam ahead for the SoHo rezoning project after a New York State Supreme Court judge chucked a lawsuit Thursday from two Lower Manhattan community groups seeking to halt the rezoning.

The lawsuit argued that the de Blasio administration had not provided appropriate notice that it was launching the land use review process for the Lower Manhattan rezoning and that the meetings for the project must be held in person and not over Zoom, according to court documents.

Judge Arthur Engoron tossed this lawsuit on Thursday, saying that the mayor's office had given adequate notice to Community Board 2 about beginning the land use review process and saw no problems with conducting the meetings virtually.

The lawsuit was brought by the SoHo Alliance and the Broadway Residents Coalition.

“We are pleased that the court dismissed meritless allegations that the city cut corners in getting this rezoning started and recognized that the city’s lawful and proper actions allowed for meaningful public involvement,” Nick Paolucci, a Law Department spokesperson, said in a statement, to the Real Deal.

The proposed rezoning in SoHo would create more than 3,200 new homes with around a quarter of those being affordable housing units.

The rezoning project would cover an area bounded by Canal Street to the south, Houston Street and Astor Place to the north, Lafayette Street and Bowery to the east, and Sixth Avenue and West Broadway to the west.

The Department of City Planning has a section on its website explaining why SoHo and NoHo were chosen to rezone. On the other hand, multiple Lower Manhattan community organizations proposed a Community Alternative Rezoning Plan that would "create deeper and broader affordable housing than the city's plan, without threatening any existing affordable housing, and without allowing big-box chain stores of unlimited size to push out existing businesses."