This relatively modest, 19-story, midblock building was the subject of one of the city’s fiercest controversies over zoning and widely became known as the "too-tall" building.

The developer had received approval from the city’s Buildings Department to erect a 31-story apartment tower, which was nearing completion when community groups protested that it was too tall for the site’s zoning and would be deleterious to the neighborhood.

The dispute centered on how close the tower was to an historic district and the placement of the tower on the site. What was critical in the controversy was a zoning map that had erroneous information.

The project’s critics maintained that the tower was not permitted within 100 feet of Park Avenue and that the developer and the city had used an outdated zoning map. The critics were successful in forcing the city to require the developer to remove the top 12 floors!

The developer had unsuccessfully offered to provide the community with important amenities instead of such a drastic solution as the demolition of the top 12 floors of the tower. Some of his offers included making a substantial numbr of units available for low-income residents in the neighborhood as this major cross-street is the traditional dividing line historically between the Upper East Side and East Harlem.

The civic groups, however, were adamant in their opposition to any compromise and rallied behind the principle that the city’s zoning should not be compromised, despite the...