Borough Prez Wants Already-Built UES Tower Investigated: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side high-rise that is nearing completion may be forced to remove some of its already-built floors after the Manhattan Borough President joined a challenge against the development, according to reports.

Borough President Gale Brewer penned a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Mayor Bill de Blasio asking for an investigation into the tower at 1059 Third Avenue near 63rd Street for having nearly 10,000 extra square feet than should be legally allowed, the New York Times first reported.

"If the results of the investigation conclude that the floor area now constructed was in fact fraudulent, DOB must order an equivalent amount of footage be removed from the building," Brewer's letter reads.

The preservation group Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts previously filed a challenge against the building in April, the group announced. The preservation group described the tower as "rising rapidly" despite the fact that its construction had been approved for four years.

"Despite its plans having been amended and approved by the DOB multiple times, including zoning diagrams most recently filed in March 2019, they still have serious and pervasive errors," the group's April announcement reads.

Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts claim that developers and architects used improper floor area deductions and falsified measurements of gross floor area to achieve 10,000 extra square feet of buildable space. The city Department of Buildings is reviewing the challenge and is expected to rule on it in the coming weeks, the Times reported.

The tower's developer and architect denied breaking the city's zoning laws when designing the building, the Times reported.

Read the full NY Times article here.