Residents, elected officials and community groups on Wednesday gathered outside City Hall to announce a lawsuit against the zoning changes under the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan, which passed in December.
The Article 78 complaint, filed on Tuesday night, argues that the plan violates the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the City Environmental Quality Review.
Quoted in a press release from the office of Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), the suit alleges in part that the city failed to properly examine “significant areas of environmental concern.” According to the release, the City Planning Commission concluded that new development under the plan would have no significant negative impact on communities, even though many neighborhoods face issues such as flooding, pollution and overcrowded schools.
“How, with a straight face, can the city of New York say that what they’re doing is not going to have an effect on these things, which are already overburdened and overtaxed, at capacity or beyond capacity, today?” urban planning consultant Paul Graziano said at the press conference.
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