A coalition of community organizations and elected officials on the Upper East Side are filing a lawsuit to block DDG’s 32-story tower at 180 East 88th Street.
The suit argues that DDG achieved the height and design of its luxury condominium tower by exploiting a loophole in the city’s zoning code, according to Crain’s. The developer broke ground on the project in 2015, and opposition from community groups heated up the next year, as locals complained about DDG creating a new lot along East 88th Street enabling it to change the building’s shape.
The Department of Buildings stopped construction at the site, but when DDG changed the design months later, the agency reversed its decision and allowed construction to continue, a move it stands by despite the new lawsuit.
Carnegie Hill Neighbors, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic District, City Council member Ben Kallos and State Sen. Liz Krueger filed the lawsuit. The courts will allow construction to continue while the case proceeds.
Work on the project, currently at the 16th story, is expected to be finished by early next year. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small