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The city gave a thumbs-up to Williamsburg’s notorious “Finger Building,” granting the owners of the unfinished structure permission to complete their North Eighth Street tower.
After nearly three years of legal squabbles, the powerful Board of Standards and Appeals voted 4–0 (with one abstention) on Tuesday to allow the “Finger Building” — which earned its name because neighbors say it looks like a giant digit that’s flipping the bird at its low-rise neighbors — to rise to its proposed 16-stories, despite a 2005 rezoning that caps buildings at 10 stories.
That’s about as high as the building — designed by embattled starchitect Robert Scarano — ever got before the city halted construction over questions about the developers’ open-space promises.
But this week, the BSA sided with the builders, ruling that the Department of Buildings “is prohibited from denying a permit based on a speculative future illegal use,” and that the plans “are sufficient to establish compliance with the open space requirements.”
Unsurprisingly, opponents of the tower are miffed.
“It’s a huge blow to the community,” said Williamsburg activist Evan Thies. “Perhaps the most terrible thing is that this decision sets a precedent [that] the voice of the people can be quieted by a developer-friendly board.”
Even though the BSA approved the project, Thies and other neighbors are considering filing a new suit.
“This is not going to be the end of the fight,” he said.
©2008 Community Newspaper Group
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