Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
'Groundbreaking' Ruling Will Force Developers To Demolish Floors Of UWS Luxury Tower
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 17, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 17, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled that the developers of a contested luxury condo building on the Upper West Side must remove an undetermined number of floors from the nearly completed project.
Justice W. Franc Perry issued the extraordinary decision on Thursday, ordering the Department of Buildings to revoke the building permit for 200 Amsterdam Avenue — poised to be the neighborhood's tallest building.
Perry sided with community activists who'd brought suit against the developers, SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan, over the 670-foot-tall luxury tower. He found the city erred in issuing the permit for construction, which opponents said was based on a 39-sided "gerrymandered lot" that abused zoning protocols.
The judge also took the highly unusual step of ordering the developer to demolish all floors of the tower that defy the stated zoning limit. It's unclear how many stories will be lopped off — potentially 20 or more of the 55-story building.
The developers have vowed to appeal the ruling, which “defies more than 40 years of precedent in the city’s zoning laws,” according to their attorney, Scott Mollen. He added that the top floors of the new tower had already been sold and that it could be dangerous to remove them. The building's two duplex penthouses were listed for $40 million each.
Opponents of the project, meanwhile, allege the building is out of scale with the neighborhood, and that the developer refused to halt construction even amid an ongoing legal battle. Congressman Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and several other elected officials plan to celebrate the ruling with a rally at the construction site on Monday.
"This groundbreaking decision averts a dangerous precedent that would have ultimately affected every corner of the city,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), which led the lawsuit. “The directive to partially demolish the building is appropriate given the willingness of the developer to ignore every sign that their project was inappropriately scaled for the neighborhood and based on a radical and wildly inaccurate interpretation of the Zoning Resolution.”
A spokesperson for the city's law department said they were reviewing the decision.
Tagged
developer
200 amsterdam avenue
Upper West Side
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Upper East Side braces for affordable housing fast track, and backlash from residents
A new land-use approval process could make it easier for developers to build larger apartment complexes in one of the city’s wealthiest, most densely populated neighborhoods.
By
David Brand
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
Bronx officials are scrambling to try to salvage a transformative project worth $650 million.
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
Bronx officials are scrambling to try to salvage a transformative project worth $650 million.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
By
Charles Lane
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .