A lawsuit brought by SoHo residents to block a plan by the Department of Sanitation to erect a 120-foot-high, three-district garage on Spring Street near the Hudson River was dismissed January 11, 2010 week by New York State Supreme Court Justice Joan B. Lobis.
The ruling dismissed part of the suit that challenged a 2005 settlement between Friends of the Hudson River Park and the city for a timetable to permit the Sanitation Department to get off of the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 97 so that they could become part of the Hudson River Park.
The planned garage was approved by the City Council in 2007 and is on land now owned by UPS. It is close to the Holland Tunnel and several new luxury residential condominium projects.
An article in today's edition of the Downtown Express by Albert Amateau quoted Phil Mouquinho, the owner of the P. J. Charlton restaurant on Greenwich Street, a plaintiff in the case, as stated that the ruling "ignored the project's impact on traffic and pollution."
According to the article, the ruling said that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the city's agreement with the Friends of the Hudson River Park and also rejected the claims that the plan was arbitrary and in violation of the city's fair share principles and that its environmental impact statement was flawed.
Earlier this year, the Department of Sanitation was shown details of an attractive, community-sponsored alternative plan for the site known as Hudson Rise, shown at the right, that called for a smaller, two-district garage topped by a park at Spring and Washington Streets designed by Zakrewzski & Hyde.
The ruling dismissed part of the suit that challenged a 2005 settlement between Friends of the Hudson River Park and the city for a timetable to permit the Sanitation Department to get off of the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 97 so that they could become part of the Hudson River Park.
The planned garage was approved by the City Council in 2007 and is on land now owned by UPS. It is close to the Holland Tunnel and several new luxury residential condominium projects.
An article in today's edition of the Downtown Express by Albert Amateau quoted Phil Mouquinho, the owner of the P. J. Charlton restaurant on Greenwich Street, a plaintiff in the case, as stated that the ruling "ignored the project's impact on traffic and pollution."
According to the article, the ruling said that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the city's agreement with the Friends of the Hudson River Park and also rejected the claims that the plan was arbitrary and in violation of the city's fair share principles and that its environmental impact statement was flawed.
Earlier this year, the Department of Sanitation was shown details of an attractive, community-sponsored alternative plan for the site known as Hudson Rise, shown at the right, that called for a smaller, two-district garage topped by a park at Spring and Washington Streets designed by Zakrewzski & Hyde.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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