LOCAL NEWS OP-ED
Keeping Battery Park
City aff ordable
BY B.J. JONES
At the Battery Park City
Authority (BPCA)
we’re striving to develop
thoughtful solutions
that preserve affordability for
both owners and renters who
call this gem of a community
home.
Buildings in Battery Park
City have a unique structure
in which BPCA owns the land
underlying the neighborhood,
while building and condominium
owners pay rent for
their use of it. Some Battery
Park City condominium owners
have raised legitimate concerns
about the existing lease
provisions, known as “resets,”
designed to periodically increase
ground rent payments
made to BPCA. These resets
are tied to the underlying
value of the land if it were undeveloped
– an unpredictable
amount that would be unaffordable
for many residents.
In order to address the concerns
raised by condominium
owners, BPCA has proposed
a framework that eliminates
these land value-based resets,
replacing them with a ground
rent that is predictable and
consistent throughout the
many condominiums in the
neighborhood. Parity is important,
because there is no
reason for some buildings to
pay a discounted ground rent
while other buildings pay a
reasonable market value.
We’re also exploring options
to protect lower-income
homeowners from increases
they cannot afford. While
Battery Park City is one of
the wealthiest neighborhoods
in New York City, with highend,
luxury waterfront real
estate, it is incumbent upon
BPCA to develop responsible
solutions for those who need
help.
Unfortunately, representatives
The intersection of Broadway and Spring Street in SoHo.
Last-ditch suit
SoHo residents fi le suit against rezoning
The rezoning, spanning 56
blocks mostly zoned for manufacturing
use, would allow
for more residential and commercial
use. To bolster affordable
housing, the zoning text
requires for new development
to go through the city’s Mandatory
Inclusionary Housing plan
option 1, which requires fewer
rent-restricted units overall,
but maintains a deeper level
of affordability.
The group alleges that the
rezoning will generate fewer
units of affordable housing that
the city predicts and argues that
exemptions it contains for developers
will allow them to demolish
historical low-rise structures
in order to construct luxury
condominiums and retail stores
that do not provide affordable
units.
The group’s petition charges
that the SoHo/NoHo land use
resolution failed to take a “hard
look” at the impact on the area’s
socio-economic conditions,
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
historic and cultural resources
and levels of potential displacement.
As a result, the lawsuit alleges
that the city did not meet
the requirements of the State
Environmental Quality Review
Act or City Environmental
Quality Review.
It also claims that rezoning
violates the state constitution by
imposing an unreasonable cost
on residents.
The city responded to the
news of the lawsuit by rebutting
the claim that it had not
undergone an environmental
review process.
“This rezoning will help ensure
that all our neighborhoods
are doing their part to solve our
city’s housing crisis, particularly
those that are centrally located
and well resourced, and the administration
has been proud to
support it ... We have successfully
defended this rezoning before,
and we aim to do so again,”
said Nick Paolucci, a Law Department
spokesman.
The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express
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of condominium owners
have proposed to provide
such relief to everyone in the
neighborhood regardless of
income. Such an approach
would divert funding from
important public services.
These principles guide
our approach in tackling
these issues:
• Expanding affordability
and certainty for residents.
To date this has been realized
in our efforts to extend
limits on rent increases for
long-time residents at Gateway
Plaza, preserve affordable
rental housing for decades at
Tribeca Pointe, and the prior
elimination of several resets
for 12 condo buildings – saving
them nearly $280 million
in unreasonable increases.
• Balancing the neighborhood’s
good with the common
good across the city. As
a public benefi t corporation,
BPCA has a responsibility to
maintain Battery Park City
as a world-class community,
while being fi scally-responsible
stewards of this public
property. The latter includes
our legal obligation to pass
through revenues to New
York City for services like
police, fi re, sanitation, and
schools. Additionally, some of
these revenues have been dedicated
toward a fund established
by New York City and
BPCA that to date has helped
subsidize affordable housing
across the city.
We’re confi dent we’ll be
able to develop a fi scally sound
plan for the future of Battery
Park City: one that ensures we
devote the necessary resources
to maintain and protect it,
that our revenues benefi tting
the entire city remain robust,
and that our community remains
B.J. Jones is president and
CEO of the Battery Park City
Authority.
Member of the National
Newspaper Association
vibrant.
Member of the
New York Press Association
Member of the Minority
Women Business Enterprise
BY MAX PARROTT
A group representing
SoHo and NoHo residents
fi led a lawsuit
against the city and the Department
of City Planning (DCP)
in New York County State
Supreme Court on Thursday
seeking to prevent the implementation
of the SoHo-NoHo
rezoning that passed the City
Council in December.
The group, which goes by the
Coalition for Fairness in SoHo
and NoHo, is arguing that the
rezoning violates state and federal
constitutional rights as well
as city and state environmental
review regulations.
“This rezoning is a land grab
by big developers disguised as
redistribution of wealth. It violates
the constitutional rights of
the city’s longtime residents including
the elderly, retirees, artists
and working families,” Jack
Lester, the coalition’s attorney,
wrote in a statement.
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