GVSHP has uncovered yet another example of City records and data acknowledging that the Trump SoHo ‘Condo-Hotel’ violates the very zoning regulations which allowed it to be built, as GVSHP and many others long contended it did.
In 2006, GVSHP urged the City not to approve permits for the Trump SoHo’s construction, based upon the fact that as a condo-hotel, it should be categorized as a “residence” or a “residential-hotel,” which was not permitted under the zoning for its site. But the City, along with Speaker Quinn and Borough President Stringer, asserted that it was legal – that it was a “transient hotel,” which was permitted under the zoning. The City then spent taxpayer dollars to defend their decision in court against a legal challenge.
However, in recent months, GVSHP has uncovered multiple instances in which the City’s own records and data categorize the Trump SoHo as a “residence,” which would have made it illegal under both the zoning when it was built as well as the recent Hudson Square rezoning. Most recently, we discovered that NYCityMap, the city’s on-line resource for information about land use throughout the five boroughs, categorizes the Trump SoHo (correctly, we believe) as a “residential” use (read HERE). In November, we discovered that the City’s “community profile” of our neighborhood also categorized the Trump SoHo as a residential use, and that in multiple environmental reviews for land use applications conducted or approved by the City, the Trump SoHo was also categorized as “residential” (read HERE).
GVSHP has written to the city officials responsible for allowing Trump SoHo to be built who asserted that it was not a residence, but rather a “transient hotel,” to bring this to their attention (read HERE). We have asked them to take enforcement action against the Trump SoHo, or to explain why they believe it is truly only a transient hotel, and how this is monitored and enforced (as recently reported in the press, city agencies seem to have no idea about how this is enforced, who enforces it, or if it has ever been enforced). We will continue to demand answers from city officials about this; so far, none have responded.
