UES Board Votes Against Blood Center Tower, But Fight Goes On

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side community board on Tuesday took its most formal step yet in fighting the New York Blood Center's controversial expansion, approving a resolution that calls on the city to reject the project.

Tuesday's vote — which passed 38 to zero, with one not voting for cause — came at the end of a nearly four-hour special meeting by Community Board 8 devoted to the Blood Center, whose proposed tower on East 67th Street has roiled the neighborhood due to its height, contents and the mid-block rezoning required to build it.

Now, under the city's public review process known as ULURP, the board has until June 28 to issue a formal recommendation. Chair Russell Squire told Patch that the board will likely use up all of its allotted time, "to make sure that we’re fully considering it."

Once that deadline arrives, there is little doubt that the board will recommend disapproving the project — a symbolic blow, but one that will carry no formal weight.

What comes next?

Once the board issues its recommendation, the Blood Center project will head to the office of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. She, too, has signaled strong skepticism toward the development, which includes a 16-story, 334-foot-tall tower filled with laboratories, offices and more.

Brewer will have 30 days to issue her recommendation, and has pledged to hold her own public hearing on the Blood Center in July, according to City Councilmember Ben Kallos.

Related: Who Supports The Blood Center's Upper East Side Expansion?

From there, the project will head to the City Planning Commission, which must hold a hearing and vote within 60 days. The CPC's 13 members could kill the project by voting against it, though few have raised that as a serious prospect.

Finally, and most critically, comes the City Council review: a 50-day process set to begin in August or September. The Council will get the final say about whether to approve the project, approve it with modifications, or disapprove it through a majority vote.

Historically, the Council has allowed members to essentially veto land-use projects in their own districts, a practice known as member deference. If that holds, the Blood Center could be in trouble, since Kallos has come out strongly against it. (Neighboring member Keith Powers, whose district includes a sliver of the project, has also expressed opposition.)

But member deference has shown signs of waning in recent months, meaning nothing will be certain until the Council casts its vote.

"We’re at a stage where we don’t know what’s going to happen," Squire, the board chair, said Wednesday.

"We hope the Council will hear the voice of the community, respect the voice of the community and listen to the community, but ultimately we don’t know what they’re going to do."

If the project spills over into 2022, Kallos will no longer be on the Council — but the Blood Center will still face resistance from whoever replaces him. All seven Democrats running for the Upper East Side's District 5 seat have expressed strong opposition to the development.

Related coverage:

• Blood Center Returns To UES Board As Frustrations Mount
• Blood Center's Upper East Side Tower Takes Heat From New Angles
• Upper East Side Blood Center Tower Advances Despite Opposition
• NY Blood Center Plots Major Upper East Side Expansion