South Korean multinational LG Electronics is going ahead with its $300 million headquarters just beyond the New Jersey Palisades, despite the pending appeal on a lawsuit brought by conservation groups. The company will mark the beginning of construction with a tree-planting ceremony to be held tomorrow at the 27-acre site in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
“We’re just not concerned about the appeal,” LG spokesperson John Taylor told the Wall Street Journal. “Our plan is to move the project forward, appeal or not.”
Opponents of the project – such as the Cloisters museum across the Hudson River and John D. Rockefeller’s grandson Larry Rockefeller – allege that the 143-foot tall headquarters would mar views of the Palisades.
In August, a Bergen County Superior Court judge sided with LG in a lawsuit brought by two conservation groups trying to block the project.
Harold Holzer, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which controls the Cloisters museum, told the Journal he hoped LG’s tree-planting ceremony would drum up more opposition for the project.
“It’s not just the scene that one can view,” Holzer said. “It’s really the pristine nature of the Palisades. Once it’s violated, it’ll be gone forever.” [WSJ] – Hiten Samtani