David once again defeats Goliath! Community members of Chinatown, Lower East Side, SoHo and other downtown areas gathered on Tuesday 9/24 with Council Member Christopher Marte to celebrate our victory against a developer’s latest attempt to build luxury high rises on the Two Bridges waterfront. 

A month ago, Chetrit, the developer and owner of 265-275 Cherry Street, announced that they were in the final stages of bringing on a development partner to help finance their megatowers project, and planned to break ground within a few weeks. Our community, with Council Member Marte’s leadership, swiftly condemned Chetrit’s greed in pushing this project and their disregard for people’s lives. Three weeks later, the tide has quickly turned in the community’s favor: Chetrit, abandoned by their development partner, is backing out of the project and has defaulted on their loan. The lot now heads to the auction block.

Chetrit’s surrender is the latest victory in our community’s years-long fight against the megatowers. By organizing with Two Bridges residents, neighbors from the Lower East Side and Chinatown, as well as workers, students and small businesses who are a part of these communities, we have proven that a unified community can triumph over the greed of billionaire developers.

These two towers, each 60- to 80-story tall, were planned to be built right next to two existing buildings that provide affordable housing. If built, they would damage the structure of the buildings, threaten the health and safety of their residents and drive up real estate taxes and rents in the surrounding area. In 2017, with the support of former Council Member Margaret Chin, developers proposed to build these luxury megatowers. Chin sent a letter to residents saying they “could not stop the towers from going up” and at best they could ask for some crumbs from the developers. Since then, multiple developers have taken over the project only to abandon it, due to consistent community organizing against displacement.

Jihye Song Simpkins from Youth Against Displacement said: “This victory is extra sweet because we were told that we were going to lose. In this town that is run by real estate developers, we still won. And that shows that when our community comes together, not only can we win now, but we can win and we will win, again and again and again! And if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere else in New York City.”

Mr. Chen, a longtime Two Bridges resident said: “I’ve lived in Two Bridges for many, many years. So the developers came, they wanted to build a highrise megatower. They don’t care about the people, they only care about money. But because our community is very united, and because we have a very good City Council Member, Chris Marte, who stands with the tenants and stands with the community, we are able to fight back!”

Kathryn Freed, former District 1 Council Member, retired State Supreme Court Judge & current State Committee Member said: “This demonstrates what a community can do to fight back against the developers, even when they tell you that you can’t fight back. The truth is, you can, and what it takes is a motivated community, a coalition like this that encompasses everyone in the community, and a really good Council Member to fight for the community.”

Longtime community member Tony Queylin said: “They’ve been telling us from the beginning that this was a done deal, that we were never going to stop it, that we were never going to win. This shows right now that we still are winning. We can’t give up, we have to stay together, stay cohesive…we need to stick to the plan, The Chinatown Working Group Plan, we need to pass that, and get everybody to stay focused and get involved. Same with saving Elizabeth Street Garden, we need to stay vigilant with the city trying to take things away from us. It’s people like Chris who are fighting for our neighborhood…If you’re not involved, get involved, because we need you.”

District Leader Vittoria Fariello, representing the Downtown Independent Democrats said: “I’m so thrilled to be here with you to celebrate this win for the community, not just because the towers are not going up, but because everybody told us they were going to. And we are here today to show them that the tide has turned. By coming together, by fighting together, by being united, our communities can make their voices heard…DID supports the Chinatown Working Group Plan, an amazing plan that is from the people who know not just what the community needs, but what is possible.”

Marion Reidel from the Grand Street Democrats said: “The Grand Street Dems have supported this effort from the beginning, we support the Chinatown Working Group Plan, we believe that our neighborhood is not for sale…we do need housing, we need affordable housing, not more luxury condos. Thank you Chris for all your leadership and thank you all for your participation!”

Council Member Chris Marte said: “Today is a testament to the will of the people…It’s a major win for our neighborhood, for our city, because soon enough, we’re going to see other communities come to us and say ‘how did they do that in Two Bridges, in the Lower East Side? How did this community take on some of the biggest developers in NYC and probably the world, and win?’ There’s still a lot of work to be done, we have to pass the Chinatown Working Group Plan…but when people on the street say this is just the way it is, there’s nothing we can do, you’re going to say: however, in Two Bridges, we took on developers & won!”

In celebrating this victory, community members call on the City to pass the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan, which would stop luxury high rises in Chinatown and the Lower East Side by capping the height of new developments and mandating truly affordable housing. 

Our community sends a clear message to any big developers threatening to take over our neighborhoods: do not build luxury towers that destroy people’s lives, or else you will encounter our united opposition and lose.