Board of Standards and Appeals

April 8, 2004
Councilmember Tony Avella
250 Broadway — Room 1731
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mr. Avella;

The Greenwich Village Block Associations (GVBA) is a community wide coalition of organizations dedicated to preserving and improving the quality of life for residents of our historic neighborhood. After discussing the frequently negative role that the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) plays in local land use, development and construction issues we voted to endorse changes in procedure to persuade the BSA to be more accountable to the communities that are impacted by its decisions. Villagers are acutely sensitive to land use decisions because we are the guardians of a district with “more history per square foot” than any other community in the country.

According to the BSA its role is to look at individual cases that…do not fall within the broadly defined areas of land use policy. Within the law (the BSA) interpret(s) the various codes which govern this policy, and have the power to vary the regulations for specific sites or projects. We believe that the BSA abuses its discretionary role and repeatedly interferes in instances where findings or guidelines of other agencies are sufficient, correct and should be upheld. BSA decisions often seem arbitrary; its demeanor towards members of the public who testify at its hearings is routinely arrogant and dismissive.

The BSA is unduly sympathetic to developers. Many applicants would have no reasonable expectation of receiving a variance if the BSA were unbiased. The GVBA trusts that the proposed legislation to give our elected officials the right of review concerning BSA decisions will help curb its frequent abuse of power and encourage greater respect for the interests of residents who typically understand their own communities better than the appointees who sit on the BSA.

It is an irritation to city dwellers that state government or agencies enabled by state law often determine matters that could logically be decided closer to home. This is particularly unacceptable when the rulings of city officials and agencies can be obviated by a virtually unaccountable agency. The GVBA welcomes reasonable attempts to bring authority back to the local level. We hope that this legislation will become law in a timely manner; we anticipate that its effect will be visibly beneficial. The preservation of our neighborhoods is critical to all New Yorkers; an affected community should play an influential part in the land use decisions that may permanently alter its built environment. Thank you