Development

Community groups brought an article 78 proceeding challenging a determination by the Board of Standards and Appeals upholding issuance of a building permit for a 55-story tower at 200 Amsterdam Avenue.  The court granted the petition, holding that the parcel on which the partially-built tower sits is not a zoning lot within the meaning of the New York City Zoning Resolution.

Developer assembled a parcel consisting of portions of various tax lots to create a 39-sided lot.  Developer sought a building permit for the tower, contending that the lot constituted a zoning lot within the meaning of section 12-10 of the Zoning Resolution.  Developer relied on a 1978 memo by the Acting Commissioner of the Department of Buildings (the Minkin Memo) .  The Minkin Memo interpreted the zoning resolution to permit a zoning lot consisting of one or more “tax lots or parts of tax lots.”  In 2017, the Department of Buildings issued a building permit.  Community groups appeals to the Board of Standards and Appeals.   A majority of the City Council, the Manhattan Borough President, the City Comptroller, and a variety of other groups supported the appeal.  DOB presented a letter reversing its position and concluding that the Minkin memo had been incorrect, but seeking affirmance of its determination because of general reliance on the Minkin memo over a 40-year period.  BSA upheld DOB's grant of the permit, and community groups brought this article 78 proceeding.