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Supreme Court, New York County, December 24, 2009
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, New York City (Stanley Mark of counsel), for petitioners. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York City (Carrie Noteboom of counsel), for respondents.
{**26 Misc 3d at 980} OPINION OF THE COURT
Walter B. Tolub, J.
This application involves a recently rezoned area of Manhattan which sits within part of Manhattan's Community District 3 (CD3). The 111-block area represents the third largest rezoning in New York City (the City) to take place since 1961, and stretches from Bowery and Third Avenue on the west, to Avenue D on the east, and from East 13th Street on the north, to East Houston, Delancey and Grand Streets on the south (the rezoning area). The rezoning area is largely made up of two long-standing residential communities comprised mostly of nineteenth century tenements with supporting institutional uses. Both areas are historically significant, and readily
recognized by New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike.[FN1]
By this CPLR article 78 special proceeding, petitioners seek an order annulling the final
environmental impact statement (FEIS) dated September 26, 2008 prepared by respondent, the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP), on the grounds that the DCP failed to both take a hard look at the socioeconomic impact of the rezoning and account for the [*2]cumulative impact of the rezoning with other pending developments. Petitioners additionally seek the issuance of an order directing respondent DCP or any other lead agency to prepare a new environmental impact statement that conforms with the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) (ECL 8-0101 et seq.) and the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) (62 RCNY 5-01 et seq.).
Background
Petitioners are comprised of entities, organizations, and individuals who live and work within the rezoning area, all of whom will ultimately be affected by the rezoning. Petitioner Chinese Staff and Workers Association (CSWA) is a membership{**26 Misc 3d at 981} organization for Chinese workers located in Chinatown. CSWA organizes Chinese workers to fight for their legal and human rights in both the workplace and the broader community. Petitioner National Mobilization Against Sweatshops is a membership organization located in the Lower East Side which is dedicated to ending sweatshop conditions. Petitioner Chinese Restaurant Alliance is a membership organization located in Chatham Square, advocating on behalf of the rights of restaurant workers and owners.
Petitioners Zhi Liang Chen and Susan Howard are rent-stabilized tenants who respectively reside on Ludlow and Norfolk Streets, both of which are within the rezoned area. Petitioner Yolanda Donato Hernandez is a resident at the Jacob Riis public housing project on Avenue D, an
area which is within the one-fourth-mile secondary study area of the rezoning.[FN2] Petitioner Norma Ramirez is a resident at the Seward Park Cooperative on Grand Street, also located within the one-fourth-mile secondary study area of the rezoning. Petitioner Steven Wong is the director of the Chinese Restaurant Alliance, and both resides and works in Chatham Square, an area which is located just outside the one-fourth-mile secondary study area.
Petitioners claim that contrary to respondents' analyses, the rezoning accelerates and concentrates luxury development in low-income communities of color, thereby creating a disproportionate adverse impact in these neighborhoods. Petitioners further claim that the DCP's FEIS is deficient because it failed to consider five elements: (1) the disproportionate impact of the rezoning on lower-income communities of color; (2) significant socioeconomic differences of the neighborhoods in the rezoning area; (3) indirect displacement of low-income populations of color both inside and outside of the proposed rezoning area; (4) displacement of businesses; and (5) the availability of affordable housing.
History of the Rezoning Area [*3]
The building types and scales in the rezoning area are predominately low- and mid-rise multiple dwelling apartments and row houses built to the street line. The buildings include nineteenth and early twentieth century tenement buildings ranging from four to seven stories in height (see exhibit 1, City{**26 Misc 3d at 982} Planning Commission [CPC][FN3] Report C 080397A ZMM [Oct. 7, 2008]; affidavit of Edith Hsu-Chen[FN4]

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