Legal Aid Files Lawsuit to Stop East Harlem Rezoning

NEW YORK CITY—The Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit contesting the East Harlem rezoning that is a key part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s neighborhood investments plan for developing affordable housing. The plan was approved by the New York City Council last year.

The non-profit advocacy group is challenging the city’s methodology in measuring the rezoning’s potential to displace rent-stabilized residents in the neighborhood. It asserts that the East Harlem rezoning, impacting six million square feet of land and thousands of residents, is one of the largest recent land use reclassifications.

“From Brooklyn now to El Barrio, the city continues to employ a flawed methodology that ignores that realities facing rent-regulated tenants and the consequences of land use decisions on their rents and livelihood,” says Jennifer Levy, Supervising Attorney of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “The East Harlem community spoke loud and clear against this rezoning during the ULLURP process. Both ends of City Hall ignored their cries but we listened.”