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A Manhattan community group has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the city\u2019s landmark rezoning of Midtown South, alleging the outgoing Adams administration and city planning officials violated state environmental law and New Yorkers\u2019 constitutional right to a healthy environment.<\/p>\n
Photo by NYC Planning <\/p>\n
A Manhattan community group has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the city\u2019s landmark rezoning of Midtown South<\/a>, alleging the outgoing Adams administration and city planning officials violated state environmental law and New Yorkers\u2019 constitutional right to a healthy environment.<\/p>\n The Midtown South Mixed-Use (MSMX<\/a>) plan permits residential development in 42 blocks spanning between West 23rd and 40th Streets and Fifth and Eighth Avenues. Over 2,800 of the planned 9,500 residences would be rent-regulated affordable units.<\/p>\n The petition, filed in New York State Supreme Court last week on behalf of the Midtown South Community Council, argues the MSMX, one of the city\u2019s largest neighborhood rezonings in decades, was approved without legally required mitigation for significant environmental impacts disclosed in the city\u2019s own environmental review.<\/p>\n The lawsuit claims that the city violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) process, and the state\u2019s Green Amendment, which guarantees residents the right to clean air and a healthy environment. The petition asserts the city failed to address air-quality hazards, displacement risks, loss of open space, threats to historic resources, and traffic congestion expected to result from rezoning the 42-block district for new residential development.<\/p>\n The group is asking the court to annul the rezoning and compel the city to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement.\n<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the city\u2019s Law Department said the administration is reviewing the lawsuit but defended the rezoning process.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe will review the lawsuit. We are confident in the rigor of the environmental review conducted as a part of this plan, which is a win-win-win for Midtown South, bringing more homes, more jobs, and more investments to this transit-rich, central community,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The City Council approved the Midtown South plan in August<\/a>, allowing for more than 9,500 homes, including several thousand affordable units, in an area long dominated by office and manufacturing uses, where new housing was previously largely prohibited.<\/p>\n The lawsuit disputes those projections, arguing the rezoning includes no enforceable guarantees on affordability and could result in the loss of existing rent-regulated housing.\n<\/p>\n City officials have characterized the plan as a major step toward addressing the housing shortage and revitalizing a centrally located commercial district. The final plan also included approval for a car-free busway on 34th Street, a proposal that had recently stalled, as well as a $122 million fund to support Garment District businesses.<\/p>\n The rezoning plan\u00a0marked the first time the city utilized the Adams administration\u2019s\u00a0 \u201cCity of Yes\u201d land-use initiative, which the City Council approved<\/a> last December to permit high-density districts with larger residential buildings in response\u00a0to the city\u2019s housing crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n