A state judge has revoked, retroactively, a building permit at 200 Amsterdam on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. If the decision holds, the developer might have to lop off almost half of the 668-foot tower. The Municipal Art Society and other opponents of “super-tall” buildings are elated. But Judge W. Franc Perry’s ruling is likely not only wrongheaded but also a threat to basic fairness and legal predictability.
The problem: the developer received his building permit under an official guidance on the definition of zoning lots dating to 1978. That guidance may have been in error—the Department of Buildings (DOB) has since drafted, but not yet adopted, a new policy—but developers built 28 other buildings since 1978 in reliance on it. The 200 Amsterdam developer followed the rules, applying for and receiving a building permit in 2017 based on the city’s official view of the law. After dozens of prominent politicians protested, the DOB recanted, saying that its 1978 view was mistaken.
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