For last 10 years, the developers in New York City have had the keys to the store. Most development projects have been and continue to be approved by the Department of Buildings and Board of Standards and Appeals, often without compliance with New York State and City law. As a result, neighborhoods have been changing. At Weiss & Hiller, PC, we represent people and their communities in this process to ensure fairness and safety. If a development project violates the law or is unsafe or environmentally unsound, we oppose it on behalf of our clients to preserve the quality of life and unique character of New York City.
Our strategy is to coordinate our legal work with increased community awareness and political activism. With our unique tripartite approach, we have successfully defeated or required developers to change their projects to ensure community safety and compliance with law. Over the last five years, we have stopped projects that threatened, and we have since preserved:
- Precious greenspace in Central Park
- The world-famous 5th Avenue fountains in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan
- Industrial manufacturing communities in Brooklyn
- Port businesses along the East River and
- Residential apartment buildings in the Bronx
We are the only law firm in New York City that refuses to represent developers in land use, zoning and construction disputes. We handle opposition work only. Our work includes challenging zoning variances (including use variances and bulk variances), re-zoning, changes to city landmarks, projects that threaten the environment, and construction that damages buildings and homes.
The statutes on which we typically rely are Multiple Dwelling Law, Zoning Resolution, ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure), SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act), CEQR (City Environmental Quality Review), Fair Share Criteria, and, of course, the New York City Administrative Code and City Charter.
While no lawyer can promise success in any land-use, environmental or construction litigation, we can assure our clients of this – we use every lawful means at our disposal to win our cases and force developers to change their projects to ensure safety, preservation of neighborhoods, and compliance with the law.
