“Incomplete, superficial.”
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge has struck down the city’s attempt to rezone Inwood, saying that the City Council “was not provided the opportunity to review the most recent and relevant information, rendering its process of review incomplete, superficial, and, arguably, a nullity.”
Justice Verna Saunders has issued a ruling in the lawsuit filed one year ago by Inwood community groups, residents, and small business owners to block the de Blasio administration’s rezoning plan, which was approved by the City Council in 2018.
In a ruling dated December 16, Saunders found in the plaintiff’s favor on all counts, and ordered that the “resolutions of the New York City Council adopting the Inwood rezoning is annulled.”
The suit argued that the city failed to fully study the rezoning’s impact on preferential rents, minority and women-owned business enterprises, traffic congestion, and displacement of residents of color. It also said the city failed to provide a full Environmental Impact Study (EIS) until the Council already voted on the matter, which attorneys argued was in violation of the City Environmental Qualify Review (CEQR) process.
Saunders remanded the matter back to the city’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development for a study of the issues raised in the lawsuit.
Read more: Judge rules against city in Inwood rezoning lawsuit | Manhattan Times
Related: Re-examining the Rezoning | Manhattan Times
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Mister Sterling
December 20, 2019 at 12:01 pmSurly the city will win on appeal. This was a long, botched re-zoning process. But in the end, we get the contextual re-zoning that Inwood needs.