BY JACKSON CHEN | Even as the Chapin School approaches another round of community meetings regarding the proposed expansion of its Upper East Side campus, it must also deal with a lawsuit recently filed by its neighbors.
The private, all-girls K-12 school has been talking about adding three floors to its eight-story campus since May 2014. According to the application the school filed with the city’s 4th(BSA), the three extra floors would house a regulation-sized gym, new lockers and training rooms, and a performing arts space.
The project would also involve a reconfiguration of existing space within the school, with the fifth-floor gym becoming a design and robotics studio and the second-floor gym being split up between classrooms and offices.
Chapin is also at work on construction of a below-grade cafeteria space for its younger students, a development that was deemed as-of-right.
After an October 2015 hearing, the BSA okayed the school’s request with some conditions, including a 60 percent reduction in the size of a stairway that would run the height of the building.
Residents across the street from the school, which is located at East End Avenue at 84th Street, felt there were several missteps in the BSA’s handling of Chapin’s application and filed an Article 78 lawsuit looking to overturn its approval as well as other variances issued by city agencies.
According to the lawsuit filed by the 90 East End Avenue Board of Directors, the school’s neighbors want to see the BSA’s approval voided and are seeking revocation as well of after-hours construction permits granted by the city’s Department of Buildings, which they say have left neighbors enduring construction noise as late as midnight and as early as 5:30 a.m.
“Chapin has disregarded the law and proper procedure at every turn in order to pursue the construction and meet its self-imposed schedule,” the lawsuit stated. “Chapin’s actions have caused DOB and the BSA to make irrational and unlawful determinations that should be overturned.”
The lawsuit, filed on January 27, claims the school and city agencies improperly separated two parts of Chapin’s construction project — the three-story addition on top and the new cafeteria project underground — during the review process.
While the below-grade cafeteria was considered as-of-right, requiring little to no review by the BSA, the residents contend that it should have been considered part of the whole project during the public review process.
The lawsuit also argues the school and city agencies “ignored the pleas of the community” throughout the public review process.
That perspective was echoed by another neighbor of the school’s who does not live at 90 East End.
“We started going to BSA meetings, did all of the letter-writing and petitions,” said Cynthia Kramer, a next-door neighbor at 530 East 84th Street who is opposed to the expansion. “Month after month, meeting after meeting, we ended up going in front of the board four times.”
Kramer said despite the residents making vocal their concerns, the BSA granted quick approval once its fourth meeting on Chapin’s project got underway on October 16.
The school’s response to Kramer’s complaints and to the lawsuit is that they are frivolous. The approvals and the permits they received, school officials argue, were thoroughly reviewed and properly granted.
“The school believes that the Article 78… that was recently filed by the 90 East End Avenue condominium board and two condominium unit owners is without merit,” according to a Chapin School statement. “The school will continue to proceed with its project in accordance with all required permits and approvals.”
The school added that it has been pushing community engagement since the project was first proposed, through a website with a detailed project timeline and a community hotline.
“Chapin… is committed to actively engaging with the school’s neighbors in connection with our academic and facilities expansion,” an earlier statement from the school argued.
Chapin added that it has been working with City Councilmember Ben Kallos, State Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright, and Community Board 8 to form a Community Advisory Committee as it moves forward with its plans.
While CB8 and its chair, Jim Clynes, initially had concerns about its design — with Clynes at one point calling it a “hodgepodge of different layers and different designs” –– he now commends Chapin on its community outreach and neighbor involvement.
CB8 disapproved of Chapin’s proposal when the school originally appeared before its Land Use Committee during a January 2015 meeting.
More than a year later, Chapin said it is continuining its engagement with the local community. In March, officials will brief local residents on mitigation efforts planned during the construction process and what specific developments are in the offing.
