The divisive Bedford-Union Armory’s rocky path to approval got even rougher on Tuesday, as the Legal Aid Society announced it would be filing a lawsuit against the plan.
The society will unveil its litigation during an 11 a.m. event on Nov. 29 with housing activists and others on the steps of City Hall. The suit will challenge both the current plan for the Crown Heights site and the city’s method of evaluating tenant displacement in land use decisions.
The Bedford-Union Armory project has faced an extremely difficult and controversial approval process so far, with some protestors getting arrested during a City Planning Commission hearing on the development. Officials appeared to make a major breakthrough last week, when a plan to increase the number of affordable apartments and remove condos in the project secured the support of local Council member Laurie Cumbo. The full council is expected to vote on and approve the plan on Nov. 30.
The armory project, spearheaded by developer BFC Partners, would include 250 affordable apartments with rents between $521 and $1,166, as well as a recreation center where neighborhood residents will get half of the memberships for $10 per month.
Although these changes were enough for Cumbo, several activists maintained that the plan was still not good enough, arguing that rents remained too high for many locals and that all housing on city-owned land should be affordable.
Legal Aid declined to comment on the lawsuit, and representatives from the City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.