Court finds environmental review for the Hudson Yards sufficient to cover changes to Javits plan. The plan to expand the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center underwent changes since the approval of the final environmental impact statement for the Hudson Yards rezoning plan in 2004. When in July 2006 the Empire State Development Corporation approved the changes without a supplemental EIS, four Hell’s Kitchen residents, the Municipal Art Society and the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association challenged the decision in an article 78 petition, arguing that the changes were significant and required a supplemental EIS.
The residents cited changes in the plan, which called for the private development of a 46-story office building, two residential towers of 50 and 45 stories, and a 500- car parking garage to replace the original plan for a full-block park bounded by Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues and West 33rd and West 34th Streets. The new plan would also change the location of the hotel proposed for Javits from Eleventh Avenue and West 41st Street, to Eleventh and West 35th, and moved the Javits truck loading facility from West 34th Street to locations along West 39th and West 40th. Instead of the original underground facility, the new proposal called for a multilevel, above-ground truck loading dock. The residents submitted evidence showing that the changes would cause significant traffic impacts, potentially increase air pollutants and impact neighborhood design and open space. (more…)
