Judge orders 20 floors to be removed from skyscraper in New York

According to a court order, at least 20 floors of a building, currently under construction in New York City, must be removed.

The decision was issued by a State Supreme Court judge on February 13, 2020. The skyscraper currently stands above 200 meters and 51 stories have been completed. According to the initial design, another 4 floors would have been added to the structure. The building is located at 200 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. If realized, the structure would be the tallest in this side of Manhattan.

The court order stated that a building permit for the skyscraper should not have been issued due to zoning limitations. The decision did not mention the actual number of floors needed to be removed but, according to current legislation, at least 20 stories must be demolished.

A group of people protested against the erection of the building stating that the developers, SJP Properties, used a regulation "loophole" to increase the maximum allowed height of the structure, a fact that proved to be true according to the court's decision. The lawsuit was brought by the Municipal Art Society and the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development. “The directive to partially demolish the building is appropriate given the willingness of the developer to ignore every sign that their project was inappropriately scaled for the neighborhood and based on a radical and wildly inaccurate interpretation of the Zoning Resolution,” Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the Municipal Art Society, stated.

Goldstein added that the suit aims to stop similar cases around the city in order to prevent developers from constructing buildings that do not comply with the codes. "I think the clarion call here (for this developer and developers across the city) is that people are going to challenge them if they're doing something illegal. And that those practices are not appropriate and, in the end, they're going to get stopped," Goldstein concluded.

Nevertheless, the developers will not resile from the case. Instead, according to Scott Mollen, a lawyer representing SJP Properties, the decision will be challenged as the building was approved by New York's Department of Buildings, a fact that shows it complied with the regulation codes. "The developers strongly believe that the appellate court will see the several ways this decision was incorrect," Mollen, stated.

The outcome of the case is not clear yet. Until a final decision is implemented, the demolition of the excess floors will be postponed. The incident has also caused a frustrating situation regarding the marketing of the 112 apartments that were already on sale.