New York, NY – New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and Council Member Margaret S. Chin issued the below statements following the City Planning Commission’s vote to approve three proposed development projects in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood.

“Today’s decision to permit the construction of close to 3,000 units of housing – as many housing units as are being produced by neighborhood re-zonings – even though there are significant environmental impacts to schools, open space, transportation and on and on without City Council review undermines the very basic notions of public process laid out in the City Charter and has no precedent,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “We are deeply disappointed with the Commission’s vote to circumvent ULURP and are exploring legal avenues to correct this mistake.”

“The fix is in, and Mayor de Blasio’s administration has shown they will do whatever it takes – including ignoring the law – to give these developers what they want and approve these three enormous, illegal developments in Two Bridges without a full review or a real negotiation,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “However, the law doesn’t stop being the law just because the mayor and the Department of City Planning choose to ignore it. The residents of Two Bridges deserve the full land use review and real negotiation that residents in every other neighborhood have gotten when the rules were changed to add thousands of units of housing, and we’re nowhere close to done fighting for them.”

“The CPC’s vote today reflects this Administration’s complete dismissal of the community’s concerns and, frankly, the law as written,” said Council Member Margaret S. Chin. “The approval of these massive new developments will fundamentally change the nature of the Two Bridges neighborhood. I will continue to stand with the residents of Two Bridges — the battle for this community is far from over.”

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