Crown
Heights residents in New York and preservation organizations have sued the city
authorities to stop the construction of apartments on the site of the Hebron
Seventh-day Adventist church and school.
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| View of the Hebron School from New York Ave and Park Pl. Photo: BK Reader |
On
April 8, residents filed a petition in an attempt to block the approval of
the project, accusing the city of breaking the laws by failing to hold a public
hearing on the revised project plan.
“Once again, the
city has provided a so-called ‘public hearing process that is designed to give
the appearance of public engagement, when, in fact, the process
serves only to disenfranchise communities from having a say,” Jason Zakai, one
of the attorneys for the petitioners, said in a statement.
Built in 1889 as
the Methodist Home for the Aged, the building is one of the last Victorian-era
institutional buildings with grounds largely intact in all of New York City.
The project was
approved by the city in May 2021 following a long back-and-forth process that
included several design changes, and significant community opposition.
Although the
church authorities are willing to enter a deal with developers, residents say
that the seven stories buildings would block views of the historic church and school
and all of the neighbouring row houses, and would deprive the community of
green space.
The city
received nearly 300 letters in opposition following a hearing on the
development last March, including ones from then-Councilmember Robert Cornegy, Community
Board 8 and the Crown Heights North Association.
“Thousands of
residents, local officials and community groups were utterly dismissed after
months of protest,” a representative for Friends of 920 Park, a
community group formed to fight the development, told BK Reader in
May. “We put our weight against the door of an invading developer, and LPC has
nonchalantly unlatched it, and let them in.”
The group has
been fundraising for the lawsuit since the new construction was approved.
Michael Hiller,
lead counsel in the litigation, said the lawsuit was part of a larger fight
against a “systemic, institutional bias at the Commission,” that included a
“pattern of approvals of contested applications.”
He said that the
way the LPC closed public hearings after initial plans were filed and did not
require them for resubmitted plans amounted to “a direct violation of the
Landmarks Law, not to mention the requisites of due process under the
Constitution.”
“In every
conceivable way, the Commission is engaging in procedural malpractice that
harms the cause of preservation and the interests of New Yorkers dedicated to
maintaining the integrity of historic neighbourhoods and
properties,” Hiller said.
If the petition
succeeds, the developer will have to stop the existing project and start again
to seek a new approval.
The lawsuit
comes after the new development received a $55 million construction loan in
February 2022. SCALE Lending announced that it would be financing the
150,000-square-foot, seven-story development, which the lender said will have
158 units, 48 of which will be set aside as affordable housing under the
Affordable New York programme.
Source: BK Reader
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