We have some great news! Save Gansevoort and our ally the Historic Districts Council have won a significant victory in the appellate court. The appellate court has just granted our motion for a stay which prohibits the developer from doing any exterior work on 60-68 Gansevoort and 70-74 until the court can rule on our appeal.
In order to grant us the stay, the appellate court had to find that there was a substantial likelihood that we would obtain a reversal of the lower court decision which approved the massive Gansevoort development project.
The appellate court rejects the vast majority of request for stays that it receives, so the fact that the court granted our request is very significant. Moreover, the vote by the 4 judges to grant the request was unanimous. Additionally, a fifth judge ruled in our favor last April to grant us an emergency stay.
This victory bodes well for our fight to preserve historic Gansevoort Street and to stop the two large, out-of-character buildings Aurora Capital wants to build. Equally important, it bodes well for landmarked Historic Districts across New York City. Our arguments, which have now swayed 5 appellate judges, would set important precedents if our appeal is upheld and significantly strengthen legal protections for Historic Districts. We expect our hearing before the appellate court will take place some time in December. Stay tuned!