The city recently completed its purchase of the UPS parking lot, which it plans to turn into a five-story dump truck garage. Neighbors, including James Gandolfini, Jennifer Connelly and John Slattery, have been fighting the plan for fear of what it might do to their property values. Now, it’s kneecap-cracking time, as locals have filed an appeal hoping to stop the $500 million project.
“We shouldn’t be burdened with garbage picked up all the way on 59th Street,” Carole De Saram, president of the Tribeca Community Association, told DNA Info. “It’s an unfair burden to our community.” Her group was among those filing the appeal.
The groups are appealing the decision in an earlier suit they filed, alleging the community was being unfairly burdened and that the city’s environmental review was insufficient. That suit was never even heard, having been dismissed by the State Supreme Court because the justices argued that neighbors and local businesses had no standing to sue.
Like the litany of similar lawsuits at Atlantic Yards, the odds of this one succeeding seem unlikely.
