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Environmental Group Takes To YouTube In Fight Against LG Building On Palisades

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Environmental groups and some New York politicians have been trying to stop the construction of an eight-story building along the pristine palisades in New Jersey.

As CBS 2's Alice Gainer reported, one of the groups opposing the project has taken its campaign to YouTube.

The YouTube video, made by the group Protect the Palisades, mocks the decision to allow the LG Corporation to build its North American headquarters right along the Palisades in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Goodbye Palisades, Hello LG Tower! by Protect the Palisades on YouTube

In the video, a man wearing a stereotypical 1990s-style outfit, with flannel shirt over his T-shirt and a baseball hat that initially appears turned to the side, calls himself "the guy who likes to see great things get ruined."

"The Palisades – a pristine stretch of unspoiled natural beauty. These ancient cliffs run for miles along the Hudson River just above the George Washington Bridge. They've been protected for, like, forever, but LG was all: 'Who cares? We're going to build our new office building right here,'" the man said. "LG is going to ruin this national landmark so we can look at their national headquarters instead. How badass is that?

"And then once this building goes up, who's to stop other buildings from going up all along the Palisades," he continues. "Take that, boring old majestic vistas."

The video ends with the tag, "Don't make this guy happy," along with the hashtag "#StopLG."

Demolition for the building started at the site on Sylvan Avenue just six months ago, after the $300 million project was approved by the town of Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County, and the State of New Jersey.

LG said building the 143-foot tower would create more than 2,000 construction jobs, and allow the company to expand and hire more employees.

The building would be composed of two wings – one three stories high and the other eight stories.

In a statement, LG told CSB 2 News, "This is a low-slung horizontal office complex -- not a 'tower.'" LG added that the project will restore six wetlands on the property, and "eliminate harmful runoff into the Palisades and into the surrounding neighborhood."

LG said it would not dignify the Protect the Palisades video with a comment, and would only say New York politicians on the other side of the river are getting misleading information from environmental groups.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is among the New York politicians who has come out against the LG project.

In a letter earlier this month to Bon-joon Koo, vice chairman of LG Electronics, Schumer asked that the South Korea-based company not build above the Palisades' tree line. LG's current plan calls for the building to extend 70 feet above the trees.

Schumer said he would like to see the company consider building horizontally so that it can maintain the same square footage.

Despite that, the second phase of the project started this week, and construction could begin a year for this summer.

In February, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission approved a resolution asking for a shorter building.

Environmental groups, including Protect the Palisades and the Sierra Club, have appealed a court decision that allowed the LG project to go ahead. a coalition of former New Jersey governorsis among the others who have unsuccessfully lobbied the company to rethink its plan.

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