Trouble for Vornado

Vornado, the putative favorite for designation to develop the East Harlem site at 127th Street, may be in for some trouble. Aside from its attack on the people of Soundview, where it wants to evict the local Key Food supermarket, the real estate giant, it may now find that the land use review for the 127th street project is about to hit the skids.

As the NY Sun reports this morning, it's none other than Manhattan BP Scott Stringer who is saying to the city-"no mas." Here's the Sun's take: "The president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer, is accusing the Bloomberg administration of circumventing the land use review process to push through a mixed-use development project in East Harlem. "With no developer selected, it is impossible to determine whether the proposed dispositions meet the highest achievable public good, which should be the standard when disposing of scarce public resources," Mr. Stringer said in a letter entered as part of the review process. He said he does not support the city's plan for a mixed-use development project proposed for a multiblock site along East 125th Street, because the process has lacked transparency."

Well, good for Scott. After his collapse on the Columbia deal he's doing the right thing in East Harlem. As we've said before, no one should allow a ULURP to proceed without a developer and a specific plan. Vornado is about to face its own eviction in East Harlem, and if it continues to stonewall in Soundview, the company's grief will continue to multiply.