Neighbor sues Cammeby’s, Rybak to stop view-blocking project

Rubie Schron’s Cammeby’s International Group and Rybak Development’s three-tower project in Coney Island is on its way to becoming one of Brooklyn’s largest residential developments.

But a nearby co-op and its property manager could delay those ambitions.

Neptune/Sixth, at 532 Neptune Avenue, would span 758,6000 square feet and bring 499 residential units to South Brooklyn. The project would bolster Cammeby’s push to become a ground-up developer.

The firm has become a prominent New York City real estate player by focusing on acquisitions since the late 1960s.

Trump Village Section Four, a large co-op near Neptune/Sixth, filed a lawsuit this week against the Cammeby’s-Rybak venture alleging the project lacks the proper zoning. Some Trump Village residents are upset that the massive project would block their views of the Manhattan skyline.

The suit, signed by Trump Village property manager Igor Oberman, alleges the Department of Buildings erred in approving the development. As a result, it will be overbuilt by 133,835 square feet, according to the lawsuit.

Specifically, the suit alleges the development was supposed to have a floor area ratio of no more than 2.4, but instead will have a FAR of 3. Trump Village and the Cammeby’s-Rybak entity have filed back and forth lawsuits against each other since at least 2017.

In a statement, Cammeby’s called the latest one nonsense.

“It is quite disappointing that Trump Village has brought yet another frivolous legal action in an effort to impede the development of our project, which will bring nearly 500 residential units, including 150 homes for low-income residents, to a neighborhood that desperately needs them,” the statement said.

It added, “What’s most astonishing is that Trump Village has filed this baseless lawsuit in the very same week that Mayor Adams announced a bold initiative to develop 500,000 new homes for the people of New York City to combat the growing housing crisis.”

Community groups and activists have challenged agencies’ zoning approvals in the past. But they almost always fail. In one case, opponents of an Upper West Side condo tower at 200 Amsterdam Avenue argued that the developer, SJP Properties, illegally gerrymandered a zoning lot. The de Blasio administration defended its approval and won on appeal last year.

Trump Village Section 4 faces another issue: the Cammeby’s-Rybak project is already in the early stages of construction.

Trump Village’s attorney said he filed a challenge with the DOB months ago, but the agency has yet to rule.

“The court must issue a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo and disallow the developer an opportunity to complete his construction and then claim that any zoning challenge is moot,” said Stuart Klein, an attorney at Klein Slowik representing Trump Village.

Cammeby’s purchased the South Brooklyn properties, spanning about 6,000 apartments, from the Trump family in 2003 for about $700 million. Rubie Schron’s sons Avi and Eli have pushed into ground-up development, something their father avoided.

The company has completed Phase One of the Neptune/Sixth development, a sleek medical office and retail building at 626 Sheepshead Bay Road that spans 160,000 square feet.

Cammeby’s has also been acquiring properties outside New York City. This year, it partnered with Harbor Group International to buy an 816-unit apartment complex atop the Brightline train station in Downtown Miami for over $400 million.