A new real estate development project, known as 15 Penn Plaza, has just been granted approval by the New York City City Council. This project, spearheaded by the Vornado Realty Trust, calls for the construction of a 1,216 foot tall tower near the Empire State Building; a design that exceeds the height, setback, and floor-area-ratio (FAR) building zoning codes. However, variances have been granted for this project despite a committee at the Community Board 5, a community board who represents the middle and lower Manhattan, saying "the developer had not provided a rationale for such a large zoning bonus, especially since it did not have a tenant and might not build for years" [courtesy New York Times].

It is clear that with no proposed reasoning for variance approval, and no tenants to demand an increase in floor space, this justification for the approval of these variances were the jobs and revenue a project of this scale would create However, we see no reason why a compromise cannot be reached whereby local zoning standards may be met, while still creating jobs and revenue for the City of New York.