The Mayor without any legislative process, ordered a time limit on challenges to developments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30xp2IS4vFA

Email sent to my by Rob Hollander:

Friends and neighbors, 

On Feb. 2, Mayor Bloomberg, without any legislative process, ordered a time limit on challenges to developments. Ordinary citizens will now have only and exactly 30 days to challenge the legality of a development once a permit has been issued. 

Prior to the mayor's order, there was no time limit on challenges. Since the city allows developers to self-certify their plans (yes, approve their pans themselves), the only oversight lies in citizen challenges. 

This time limit sends a clear message to developers: plan developments without regard for the law. The thirty-day window severely decreases the likelihood of any challenge at all, and if challenged, the development will be only at most thirty days into construction. At worst, the developer will merely have to alter plans (and borrow less money). So developers will never have to remove a story -- or thirty stories -- of construction no matter how egregiously those stories violate the zoning and violate the neighborhood. 

It's a call to any unscrupulous developer to submit self-certified illegal plans.

Here's the mayor's press release. Notice the headline, spun as procedural improvement. Scroll down to the last two paragraphs before the bullets to learn the underlying motivation: to streamline illegal development. Think about it: as long as the plans are legal, developers have no worries about challenges at any point in the process of construction. Challenges are only a burden to development if the developer is banking on illegal plans. 

This is government administrative sponsorship of activity in violation of government legislation; government sponsoring criminality. It's a deft brushing aside of the laws that protect this city and its neighborhoods, and handing the city itself to developers for their fastest buck, no urban planning, no community voice, no legislative process. Just thirty days. Let's close the city council down and let Boss Bloomberg rule in the great tradition of Mussolini and Tweed. (That's an insult to Tweed. Tweed, for all his corruption, responded to his voting base, the Irish working class.)

If developers generally submitted legal plans, this order would never have been. The mayor's order is a response to a problem of excess illegality. His response: make it easier to commit fraudulent and illegal activity and increase the likely profit. Forgive me, it's just so unbelievably outrageous. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT ROB HOLLANDER!

Rob Hollander

Lower East Side Residents for Responsible Development

http://savethelowereastside.blogspot.com/

lesrrd@gmail.com

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Rob Hollander

Lower East Side Residents for Responsible Development

http://savethelowereastside.blogspot.com/

Good work Rob Hollander.

Suzannah B. Troy's 

email to the mayor

Community members greatly upset reached out to me to inform you 30 days is not enough notice and you have denied them their legislative rights re:DOB notification when developers, landlords, contractors often breaking the laws, violating rights are pretty stealthy at it mayor Mike. Also I want the DOB info on the front of buildings far easier to understand with a lot more information spelled out. You doing this is like being an emperor and favoring developers that are taking advantage of the people of this great city and they do with laws you just layed down with out the people's blessing which are bent in their favor and invite further corruption.

Short hand -- the people of NYC are being screwed by King mayor Mike yet again!

To my readers: Please note TWO firefighters died in the Bronx because of fake walls built that should not have been built.