LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the LG USA Corporation to lower the height
of its proposed new headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to
below the tree line, in order to preserve the scenic views and beauty of
the Palisades

WHEREAS, The LG USA Corporation plans to build a new international head-
quarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, which, at 143 feet in height poses a
new threat and precedent to the Palisades north of the George Washington
Bridge as a source of visual pollution that forever would spoil the
Interstate Park and the sweeping vistas which have been protected by
more than a century of conservation; and
WHEREAS, The Palisades, a National Natural and Historic landmark
formed of igneous (volcanic) rock 200 million years ago in the late
Triassic period, and shaped during the last Ice Age 15,000 years ago,
provide one of the last untouched natural vistas in the New York metro-
politan region; and
WHEREAS, A late-19th Century threat to the Palisades from the ravages
of industrial quarrying spawned a conservation effort by then-New York
Governor Theodore Roosevelt and New Jersey Governor Foster McGowan
Voorhees which began with the formation of the Palisades Interstate
Parks Commission in 1900, and culminated with the dedication in 1909 of
the Palisades Interstate Park to mark the 300th Anniversary of Henry
Hudson's famous trip up the River that now bears his name; and
WHEREAS, The proposed LG headquarters, if built as designed, would
rise well above the tree-line and is a fourfold increase upon existing
zoning, even though LG's 27-acre site can easily accommodate a lower
building which would bring in as many jobs and as much tax revenue; and
WHEREAS, The proposed LG tower would also open the door to more devel-
opment, ruining a thousands-year-old vista seen by the original Native
American settlers, European explorer Henry Hudson and enjoyed by
millions on both sides of the River to this day; and
WHEREAS, A wide coalition of citizens from New York, including many
State Senators, Assembly Members, City Council Members, Community Boards
in Manhattan and the Bronx, and countless thousands of concerned indi-
viduals, New Jersey, including four former New Jersey governors and six
nearby New Jersey mayors and beyond, have appealed LG to be a good
neighbor and build its new headquarters so that it does not exceed the
tree line; and
WHEREAS, Recent letters from the National Park Service's National
Historic Landmark Manager and NE Region Natural Resources Chief detail
the significance of the area and how the construction of the building as
currently proposed threatens the integrity of this nationally designated
area; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body finds the height of the proposed LG USA
Headquarters building above the tee line is against the public interest
of our constituents and all New Yorkers and Americans who value our
national resources and historic landmarks; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
urge the management of the LG USA Corporation to lower the proposed
height of its new international headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey, to below the tree line in order to preserve the scenic beauty of
the Palisades; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the LG USA Corporation.