Lawsuit seeking to block SoHo/NoHo rezoning short-lived
BY MARK HALLUM
A judge denied on Monday May 3
a temporary restraining order in
a lawsuit against Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the Department of City Planningbased
on its claims that the plan for
rezoning SoHo and NoHo launched during
the pandemic as a violation of due process.
The suit, seeking an Article 78 declaration
in New York County Supreme Court
and fi led on Friday, claims the city cut corners
in facilitating public input over virtual
sessions on the matter before sending it the
City Planning Commission where it awaits
their approval.
“Through the Controversial SoHo/
NoHoProject, Respondents are proposing
a massive and expansive rezoning of the
historic SoHo and NoHo neighborhoods.
The Controversial SoHo/NoHo Project
would encompass 56 blocks and span 146
acres in lower Manhattan. The Project
would change the unique existing zoning,
which has been in place for the past 50
years, to allow for, among other things,
upzoning for taller and more high-density
buildings, large retail and supermarket
space, and more standardized residential
uses,” the preliminary statement fi led on
Friday reads.
Shoppers make their way on Lafayette Street in July 2020.
“TRO denied because of no showing of
immediate irreparable harm; court need
not and does no address liklihood sic of
success and exhaustion of administrative
remedies issued at this time,” Supreme
Court Judge Arthur Engoron scribbled the
court documents fi led Monday.
According to the Department of City
Planning, 19% to 30% of the new units
that could grow out of the plan through
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
private development will fall within the
scope of the city’s inclusionary housing
mandates and could equal anywhere from
about 621 to 940 new households, as
released in a draft of the plan in October.
“We are fi nalizing a few small matters
related to the application, and look forward
to beginning public review in the near future,”
DCP spokesman Joe Marvilli said.
The city, however, has held public
hearings on the matter, including one in
December 2020, in which a number of
residents outside of SoHo and NoHo expressed
belief that it would bring relief to
communities across the city by reducing the
impact of gentrifi cation.
Others believe new development will
contribute to crowding and destroy the
character of the historic neighborhood
which once was a mecca for artists who
could live in studio space for affordable
rates. Some aspects of the neighborhood
have already changed the sense that the
streets are dominated now more than ever
by pricy retail outlets.
The de Blasio administration does not
share the plaintiff’s view.
“We were never going to modernize
50-year-old zoning laws, or build affordable
housing in one of the least affordable and
least diverse neighborhoods in America,
without a good hard fi ght,” mayoral spokesman
Mitch Schwartz said. “So we’re not
surprised. But we are prepared – and we’re
confi dent that remote hearings are inclusive
and fair, and we will deliver a rezoning plan
that moves SoHo and NoHo forward.”
The SoHo Alliance, Broadway Residents
Coalition, John Sean Sweeney, Pete Davies,
Jeanne Wilcke and Maria Judith Feliciano
Chaves are all listed as plaintiffs.
NYC set to fully reopen on May 19, Cuomo says
BY MARK HALLUM
Why wait for July? New York is
reopening on May 19 in similar
fashion to its closure in March
2020: in coordination with neighboring
states New Jersey and Connecticut.
That’s what Governor Andrew Cuomo
plans as restrictions are set to be lifted
gradually throughout the month of May,
many of which apply to the restaurant
industry, events,, workplaces as well as
transportation with a return to 24-hour
service.
“It is irrefutable, when you look at the
numbers that New Yorkers have made
tremendous progress, all the arrows are
pointed in the right direction, have been
for a while, and are dramatically pointing in
the right direction. So it’s time to re adjust
the decision made on the science, and on
the data, right. So today we announced a
major reopening of New York State on May
19. The key is a smart reopen reopening is
not a light switch,” Cuomo said Monday.
The governor’s new mandates matches
those across the Tri-State area to prevent
people from enjoying amenities in one
location before returning home – with
COVID-19.
Bartender Shane Buggy, 34, cleans dividers placed on the bar top at
McSorley’s Old Ale House in Manhattan on May 3, 2021.
Capacity restrictions on retail stores,
food services, gyms, fi tness centers, amusement
parks, hair salons, barber shops,
offi ces as well as theaters and museum
will end on May 19. Where the Cuomo
administration’s ordinances depart from
the other states which have cooperated
with New York in the past year is where
REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY
dining is concerned.
Starting May 17, outdoor food and
beverage services will not longer have a
curfew on — while the same regulation
will be lifted on indoor establishments May
31, which Cuomo announced on Thursday.
In New Jersey and Connecticut, a joint
protocol could allow the 33% capacity in
stadiums to increase with depending on
whether or not an individuals vaccinated
or has been tested for COVID-19.
The Cuomo administration was cautious
to ditch the Center for Disease Control’s
recommendation of maintaining six feet of
distance, but could change if the federal
institution does away with it. Capacity requirements
at venues will still be subject
to affording patron six feet of distance,
however.
So, this room has a capacity restriction,
and the capacity restriction applies up to
the point where you can afford six foot social
distancing,” Cuomo said in the briefi ng
room of his Manhattan offi ce. “If the CDC
changes their guidance, then we’ll change
our guidance. But having said that, for
events that can show proof of vaccination
or recent negative tests, the six foot limit
does not need to apply.”
Cuomo hopes that keeping unvaccinated
or untested individuals from participating
in certain social events will incentivize
more New Yorkers to get the jab.
New York state, according to the governor,
has up to 7 million fully vaccinated
people while the city has up to 6.6 million
shots administered, as reported by Mayor
Bill de Blasio on Monday morning.
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