Court dismissed action because new environmental review would not restore scenic views. The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine leased part of its 11-acre campus to a developer, who built an 18-story residential building on West 110th Street at the corner of Cathedral Parkway and Morningside Drive. When local residents opposed the project, the developer agreed to make an honest effort to ensure that the building would qualify as an “80/20 building” under which 80 percent of the apartments would be rented at market rate, and 20 percent at affordable rental rates. In exchange for creating the affordable housing, the New York City Housing Development Corporation conditionally agreed to issue a $115 million bond that would help fund the project. Before it issued the bond, HDC completed an environmental assessment, concluding that issuing the bond would not significantly harm the environment, and released the funds.

Three long-time residents of Cathedral Parkway, whose views of the Cathedral would be blocked, challenged HDC’s environmental determination and the funding. In their article 78 petition, the residents asserted that the loss of scenic views triggered the requirement for a full environmental review under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act and the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Law. (read more…)