East Village residents opposed lot merger needed for construction of 26-story dormitory. On April 17, 2007, BSA held a contentious hearing on New York University’s 26- story dormitory, currently under construction on East 12th Street in the East Village. In September 2006, a court refused to halt construction while residents appealed the building permit to BSA. 3 CityLand 144 (Oct. 15, 2006).

NYU achieved the 26-story height by merging the construction site with an adjacent lot containing the two-story Cooper Station Post Office, owned by the United States Postal Service. This enabled NYU to use the post office site’s unused floor area in determining the size of development allowed on NYU’s portion of the site. NYU’s developer paid $7.7 million to merge the lots and use the development rights. It also received an easement agreement for light, air and an unobstructed view over Cooper Station.

At BSA, Kevin Finnegan, representing the local residents, argued that the Department of Buildings erred in granting the permit since the postal service is exempt from local zoning laws. According to Finnegan, the power to merge a lot and to allow the transfer of development rights comes from the zoning resolution. The Postal Service cannot gain benefits from zoning if it remains exempt from it. Finnegan also raised the community’s concerns that due to the post office’s exemption, nothing stopped the Postal Service from building its own high-rise development on the Cooper Station site. When Commissioner Dara Ottley-Brown asked for a code section that allowed BSA to revoke the permit, Finnegan answered that the zoning resolution does not contemplate the merger, adding that “by implication it can’t happen.” (read more…)