Architect rendering of the Pierhouse development. Image credit: Toll Brothers

Save The View community group argues new evidence shows rooftop bulkheads are not mechanical.  On July 22, 2015, community group Save The View Now filed to renew their motion for a preliminary injunction against construction of the Pierhouse development in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The group’s initial challenge, arguing the development’s rooftop mechanicals violated an agreed-upon height cap, was dismissed on June 10.

In a statement released on the group’s website, Save The View argues recently-received building plans show the rooftop bulkhead equipment is designed to contain necessary structures for event space, including a kitchen, food prep areas, a room for pool equipment, and more.  Said the statement, “These structures do not qualify as ‘mechanical equipment’, nor are they ‘permitted obstructions’ and, therefore, are illegal structures and must be taken down.”  The group further argued copies of the property leases for the development show the two buildings are to be capped at one hundred and at fifty-five feet, respectively, with no allowances for rooftop mechanicals or permitted obstructions.

Project developers Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group responded in a joint statement:  “A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that the Pierhouse development is being built in a way that conforms with the approved project plan.  We are confident that the court will also find these new claims to be without merit.”

By:  Michael Twomey (Michael is the CityLaw Fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2014).