Borough Prez Won't Drop Lawsuit Against UES NYCHA Development

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Borough President Gale Brewer will not drop a lawsuit challenging the city's plans for private development at an Upper East Side public housing complex following the city's withdrawal of plans for a 50-story tower at the site, according to legal filings and reports.

Brewer argued that the city should not be able to avoid a full public review, including an environmental assessment, for any future development planned for the Holmes Towers complex, according to legal papers filed Tuesday in state court. The borough president's filing argues that the city's "'reconsideration' of the project appears to be superficial at best" and that the fundamental plan to allow private development on the public housing complex remains the same.

THE CITY first reported on Tuesday's legal filing.

Brewer's office filed its Article 78 lawsuit in April when the city was still applying for a 50-story, 339-apartment tower to be developed on what is now a playground located in the middle of two Holmes Towers buildings on East 93rd Street between First and York avenues. The city filed to have the suit dismissed when it scrapped the development plan earlier this month.

But Brewer doesn't buy that the city's plan to conduct more community outreach will result in a different development plan.

"NYCHA has not changed its plan to develop this property—they have not changed the developer, the location, or the scale. They also haven’t even committed to comply with the current zoning for the site," Brewer said Tuesday in a statement.

The goal of the borough president's lawsuit was to force the city through the public review process known as ULURP, which would allow the local community board, the borough president and the City Council to review the plan. That goal has not changed, according to Tuesday's court filing.

NYCHA is still planning to partner with Fetner Properties when new plans are announced for the Holmes Towers site. The embattled agency will roll out its plan for a new community engagement process in the coming weeks, an agency rep said.

Fetner's plan for the site would have resulted in a 530-foot-tall tower with 339 apartments. Half of the apartments would have been offered at market rates and the other half would have been offered at regulated below-market rates. CEO Hal Fetner told Patch in previous conversations that suggestions that the developer did not conduct outreach with NYCHA residents were "hurtful."

The city's request to have the borough president's lawsuit dismissed will be heard in court in July, THE CITY reported.