Upper East Siders Claim Development May Harm Guggenheim: Lawsuit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Two Upper East Side residents are suing to block a construction project that they claim could endanger a number of local landmarked buildings, including the famed Guggenheim Museum, according to reports and the lawsuit.

Renato Negrin and Scott Wilson filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the city Department of Buildings Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court and are demanding the department release building plans for a 16-story story development being built near their East 88th and 89th street homes.

The Upper East Siders claim that they will "be impacted by the proposed height and bulk of the project in the loss of valuable air, light and views," according to the lawsuit. The duo also claim that excavation and foundation work at the site will endanger four nearby landmarked buildings and that the DOB will need to monitor the landmarked buildings to make sure they are not damaged.

Negrin and Wilson also contend that the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue will be "impacted aesthetically" by shadows and the "infrigement of light that will be bast over this important irreplaceable landmark."

The Upper East Siders filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the building plans in October, but the city has said it won't be able to fulfill the request until May, the New York Post first reported.

The pair's lawyer, Jack Lester, told the Post that the lawsuit "is about making the city accountable to community residents for development that infringes on people’s zoning rights and neighborhood character."

The planned development, located on Madison Avenue between East 88th and 89th streets, is being built as-of-right and is not located within the nearby Carnegie Hill Historic District, Gothamist first reported.