On March 14, 2019, Justice W. Franc Perry ruled in favor of firm clients the Municipal Art Society of New York and the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development in their ongoing action to halt the unlawful construction of a 668-foot residential mega-tower on a gerrymandered zoning lot at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, previously slated to be the tallest building on the Upper West Side.  The Court held that the building permit rested on an unreasonable interpretation of the Zoning Resolution that was inconsistent with a plain reading of the statute, and remanded the building permit back to the BSA for further review consistent with the Court’s order. The Court also rejected the argument of the developer, Amsterdam Avenue Redevelopment Associates LLC, that simply because DOB had issued the permit in the first place, it was therefore entitled to complete the building. “Vested rights,” the Court wrote, “cannot be acquired by relying on an invalid permit.”

MAS and CFESD were represented in the proceeding by ECBAWM lawyers Katherine Rosenfeld, Richard D. Emery, and Ashok Chandran, and co-counsel Charles Weinstock, Esq.

“Contentious Upper West Side skyscraper hits roadblock after legal challenge,” Curbed New York
“Upper West Side Skyscraper’s Future Uncertain After NY State Court Ruling,” Law.com