The 5 Pointz in more iconic times.
A local community board is the first set of boots on the ground calling out developer Wolkoff for trying to sneak in additional units and floors at the 11th hour of a standing application.
The resounding sense that developers do not need to follow the rules that apply to everyone else. While there is already a Special Permit in place granting them special permission to build above and beyond underlying zoning, they still want more.
The board says the developers have engaged in an ‘artful manipulation of the rules to inhibit any further community review’
This is all too common, and not isolated to the boroughs as we have witnessed first hand on the Upper West Side.
The Zoning Resolution is in place to set a limit. It is a set of rules all must work within to ensure public safety and promote predictability in planning. The Zoning Resolution should apply equally to all, and when there are unique circumstances the City has established the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) for relief.
Special conditions should not be the baseline.
Despite the shenanigans, the developer continues, and has just revealed that he created more units than were approved. While the added quantity of units will likely result in added profit, he feels he did the community a favor as GOTHAMIST reports, ‘they should award me’.