Judge Won't Stop Work On Fast-Rising UWS Tower At 200 Amsterdam

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Upper West Side preservation groups suing to block one of the neighborhood's tallest planned developments were dealt a blow when a state Supreme Court judge ruled against restricting construction work on the tower.

Developers SJP Properties and Japanese-based Mitsui Fudosan are allowed to continue construction at 200 Amsterdam Ave. after the second attempt at a temporary restraining order against the development was denied. The 668-foot skyscraper is in the middle of a legal challenge brought by the Municipal Arts Society and the Committee For Environmentally Sound Development and supported by Upper West Side politicians.

A spokeswoman for developers said that the builders are "pleased" with the court's decision.

"This dismissal is consistent with previous decisions in favor of the development by the Department Of Buildings, the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals, and the Supreme Court of New York. We remain focused on making continued progress on construction to deliver this exceptional building to the neighborhood," a spokeswoman for SJP Properties said in a statement.

Opponents of the tower have said that construction should be stopped 200 Amsterdam until the court decides whether the building is legal or not. At the pace of construction, preservationists and politicians fear the building may be finished before the legal challenge is resolved.

State Supreme Court Justice W. Franc Perry ruled in March to vacate a 2018 city Board of Standards and Appeals ruling that favored developers. Lawyers representing neighborhood groups claim that any work construction before the next BSA meeting is done at the developer's "peril."

Attorney Richard Emry claimed that recent construction progress on 200 Amsterdam should not be considered if developers argue for an unnecessary hardship due to a previous stipulation to discount all progress on the building made after May 2018.

"We have a stipulation that they can't complain the building that occurs after it was out of the ground as basis for hardship," Emry said. "They will try, but we have a stipulation from last May."

A spokeswoman for SJP Properties disputed Emry's claim and said that the stipulation ended on March 14, 2019. The stipulation was contingent on an agreement between developers and opposition groups, which ended when the court vacated the previous Board of Standards and Appeals decision, the spokeswoman said.

There is precedent for tearing down portions of an already-built tower that has been found to have risen too high. Manhattan Borough president Gale Brewer cited an Upper East Side development that was forced to demolish 12 floors five years after it was built.

Opponents of 200 Amsterdam Avenue have argued that its "gerrymandered" zoning lot — which stretches far beyond the building site — violates the city's zoning codes. The development's sprawling zoning lot defies both the letter and spirit of the city's regulations, preservation groups argue.

When 200 Amsterdam Ave. was first proposed by SJP Properties it was set to become the tallest building on the Upper West Side. Extell Development's recently proposed 15 W. 65th St. — which would rise 775-feet-tall — has since taken that title. Neighborhood groups and politicians are also fighting that development, and a newly-proposed city rule may limit its height.