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SEPTEMBER 29, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
MAKING CONCESSIONS
Industry City executives bow to councilman’s demands ahead of rezoning push
BY ROSE ADAMS
Executives at Industry
City will bow to a
list of demands set forth
by Councilman Carlos
Menchaca to secure a key
vote from the lawmaker
ahead of a controversial
rezoning scheme, bringing
a revised version of
the maker space’s expansion
plan closer to fruition.
“We met with Council
Member Menchaca and
his Working Group this
morning, and once again
agreed to delay certification
into the ULURP process,”
said Lisa Serbaniewicz,
a spokeswoman for
Industry City. “Industry
City has agreed to every
request made by the council
member.”
Shot callers at the
sprawling 35-acres industrial
campus are looking
to rewrite local zoning
regulations to pave the
way for a 12-year, $1 billion
redevelopment plan,
which requires a nearly
yearlong public review,
during which it is common
for developers to
fund community benefits
in exchange for the regulatory
windfall.
However, instead of
bargaining with Industry
City during the review
process, Menchaca
— whose support is essential
to the rezoning’s success
— threatened to kill
the effort if the manufacturing
complex didn’t rewrite
their application to
his liking before submitting
it to the city.
And Industry city
agreed to the councilman’s
demands — which
included eliminating hotels
from the application,
reducing the amount of
requested retail space,
and pitching in funds for a
public high school, among
other things — in a letter
Thursday, when Chief Executive
Officer Andrew
Kimball outlined his plan
to submit the application
on Sept. 23.
ACCEPTED: Industry City exectuives have bowed to Councilman Carlos Menchaca’s demands as they pursue a rezoning application that would pave the way for a massive
expansion. Industry City
But the councilman’s
dictates weren’t focused
solely on Industry City
— he also wants Mayor
de Blasio to sign a written
contract promising
city funds for the community,
in addition to
forming a community
watchdog group to oversee
the agreement — and
Menchaca fired off a response
warning Kimball
to hold off, or else.
“The establishment of
a group who would sign
one end of a community
benefits agreement has
yet to be established, let
alone a facilitator or legal
counsel identified. Any
attempt to rush through
a rezoning process without
the community being
fully prepared to hold Industry
City accountable
is something I will never
support,” he said.
Kimball issued a reply
Friday morning to say Industry
City would wait to
submit the application.
The rezoning proposal
has become a hot-button
issue amongst community
members, with
supporters arguing that
the rezoning will bring
needed jobs to the area,
while critics claim the
renovations will hike up
rents and displace residents.
During Monday’s
community meeting, the
debate came to a head as
community activists hijacked
the event, shouting
“No rezoning! No conditions!”
which prompted
about half the crowd to
exit the auditorium.
Once Menchaca announced
his conditional
support of the rezoning
later that night, community
activists blasted him,
claiming he is “afraid” to
stand up for the community.
“What we need is community
control over the
decisions in our neighborhood,”
wrote the leaders
of the community organization,
Protect Sunset
Park, in a statement. “We
can’t plan for our future
in a ‘deal’ that centers cor-
REJECTED: Locals rallied earlier this month to demand Councilman Carlos Menchaca reject any plan
to expand Industry City. Photos by Derrick Watterson