NEW YORK | 200 Amsterdam Avenue | 684 FT | 51 FLOORS

[Crawford]

The Board of Standards and Appeals, not the courts, is the final arbiter. So the NIMBYs can delay the project and drive up costs, but they cannot actually remove floors, because the city approved the project according to accepted standards, and the BSA would not overrule itself. That would mean practically every building built using zoning lot mergers in the last 50 years is in question.

So the major harm is cost/time. The NIMBYs hope to harm developers, and scare off new development, monopolizing housing supply for their own units. Even when the next judge affirms the project, the damage is done.

The tower looks pretty great from Columbus Circle, BTW. The facade close-up is less-than-spectacular, but the tower is stunning from afar.