200 Amsterdam facts for kids

200 Amsterdam is a tall residential building located in Manhattan, New York City. It stands at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 69th Street, in an area called the Upper West Side. This building will have 112 fancy apartments, called condominiums, for people to live in.

In August 2019, 200 Amsterdam reached its full height of 51 stories. This made it the tallest building on the Upper West Side at that time. Another building, 50 West 66th Street, might become taller if it is finished as planned. However, in February 2020, a judge decided that some of the top floors of 200 Amsterdam might need to be removed.

Building History

How the Building Was Planned

The land where 200 Amsterdam now stands used to have a synagogue, which is a Jewish house of worship. Developers bought this land in October 2015. In June 2016, they showed off the building's design. They filed for building permits a couple of months later.

The building lot was originally quite small. To build a much larger skyscraper, the developers bought "development rights" from nearby parking lots. These rights allowed them to combine the space and build a taller building than normally allowed on such a small piece of land.

Challenges and Legal Fights

In May 2017, two groups from the community started to speak out against the tower. They said that the way the developers combined the land for the building was against the rules. Local city leaders, like New York City Council member Helen Rosenthal and Borough President Gale Brewer, supported these groups.

The city's Department of Buildings stopped giving out new permits for the site in June. They wanted to check if the building plans were truly legal. Later that month, the Department of Buildings said they might take away the building's permit. This meant the developers had to fix the issues the Department found.

Two weeks later, the Department of Buildings agreed with the community groups. They took away the building's permit. They said the developers needed to change how they combined the land to follow the law. By September, the developers showed that their plans followed the rules without changing how big the building would be.

On September 27, the developers got new building permits. This allowed them to start digging and building the foundation. But in November, the two community groups appealed the decision again. They went to a special board to challenge the building's land combination once more.

In February 2018, the local Community Board 7 also said they were unhappy with the building. Even though they couldn't stop it, they made their feelings known. In March, an official from the Department of Buildings admitted that the permits were given out based on a mistake in understanding the rules. But in July, the special board voted to keep the building's permit. After this, one community group decided to sue the board in court.

Building and More Legal Issues

At the end of September, the building's large crane was put in place. Soon after, the Department of Buildings ordered work to stop. They wanted the developers to put up special covers over the sidewalks. These covers protect people from anything that might fall from the crane. Even with construction moving forward, a lawsuit was filed in October. This lawsuit tried to stop the building again. Many local politicians, like New York State Assembly members Linda Rosenthal and Richard N. Gottfried, and Congressman Jerry Nadler, supported this lawsuit.

In November, a bank called Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank gave a large loan to help pay for the building's construction.

In March 2019, a court ruled that the special board had made a mistake. The court told the board to look at the project again. However, the court did not take away the building's permits. This meant construction could keep going. Requests to stop work on the site were denied in April. By that time, the building was already about 25 stories tall. In June 2019, the special board again said the building's permits were fine. By then, construction had reached the 40th floor.

In July 2019, the Municipal Art Society filed another lawsuit. They tried to stop the building again, saying the board had made mistakes. The building reached its full height the next month. Workers continued to finish the top and outside of the building through late 2019.

Permit Changes in 2020

On February 17, 2020, a judge ruled that the building's permit was given out by mistake. The judge said the way the building's land was put together was like "gerrymandering." This means the land was shaped in a strange way to get around the rules. The judge ordered the Department of Buildings to take back the permit. This ruling means that "potentially 20 or more" of the newly built floors might have to be removed.

See also

In Spanish: 200 Amsterdam para niños