On November 12, 2025, Justice Lizette Colon of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Richmond County, dismissed a petition challenging the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning text amendment (COYHO). The petitioners had asked the court to invalidate COYHO in its entirety; Justice Colon dismissed their lawsuit in full.
As we previously described, the petitioners in the lawsuit alleged numerous violations of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the City Environmental Quality Review process. In its Decision and Order dismissing the case, the court rejected the petitioners’ arguments and concluded that the City had fulfilled its environmental review obligations. The court determined that the petitioners’ objections to COYHO ultimately arose from policy preferences — not deficiencies in the environmental review process — observing that “[i]t is not the place of the court to second-guess policy decisions, nor interject policy opinions into this review of SEQRA compliance.”
COYHO is the most comprehensive reform of the New York City Zoning Resolution since its passage in 1961. As noted by the City’s lawyers, the lawsuit threatened to wreak havoc on housing development across New York City. This dismissal therefore brings welcome comfort to the proponents of the many projects that are proceeding under COYHO’s regulations, which include updated standards for residential conversions, expanded regulations for affordable housing, relaxed parking requirements, and new mechanisms for transferring floor area from landmark buildings (among many other important changes).
The dismissal remains subject to appeal. If the petitioners decide to appeal the decision, they will need to file a notice of appeal within 30 days (which clock will begin to run as soon as either party files a notice of entry of the dismissal).
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