City Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents Sutton Place and the Upper East Side, testified Tuesday that residents had been fighting to rezone Sutton Place before Gamma even bought its development site.

"If the BSA is going to live up to its purpose which is to grant relief to developers when there is undue hardship, it cannot grant this exemption because these developers knew exactly what they were doing at all times and decided to assume risk despite the clear and present intentions and efforts of the community," Kallos said at a Board of Standards and Appeals hearing.