In what promises to be the NIMBY fight of the decade, a group of community activists have filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court seeking to overturn the state's approval of a massive redevelopment plan for the area around Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.
The Penn Community Defense Fund, ReThink NYC, the City Club of New York and residents of 251 West 30th Street are alleging in the lawsuit that the Empire State Development Corp. (ESD)—NY's top economic development agency—illegally sidestepped an environmental review and overrode NYC's zoning laws to grant the owners of eight sites surrounding Penn Station 18M SF of development rights.
In July, ESD's board unanimously granted the rights as part of its approval of what the state agency is now calling the Empire Station Complex—the state-backed plan to surround the redeveloped Penn Station with 10 new commercial towers, including offices and retail.
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