Manhattan pols release vision for Morningside rezoning
BY STEPHEN WITT
City Council Member Mark Levine,
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
and the land use division at the
City Council, Manhattan Borough President
Gale Brewer, Community Board 9,
and the Morningside Heights Community
Coalition (MHCC) announced their plan to
develop a block-by-block vision that could
add a signifi cant number of affordable
housing in the neighborhood as well as
protect countless more.
The plan identifi es a 15-block stretch
(between 110th to 125th Streets) with
twenty sites spanning from Riverside Park
to Morningside Park that are vulnerable to
luxury development without affordability
requirements because of unused air rights
or high vacancy rates.
“The zoning in Morningside Heights has
not been changed since 1961, and it is desperately
in need of an update,” said Levine.
“The current zoning has led to the worst
of all worlds: wildly out-of-scale mid-block
towers and zero affordable housing. An
extraordinary community-driven process
has put forward a powerful alternative
to the status quo, with a plan that would
add density and affordable housing on the
avenues and adjacent to transit, would
limit out-scale-towers, would preserve
existing rent-stabilized apartments, and
A group of Manhattan officials announced a plan to add affordable housing in
Morningside Heights.
would update an inconsistent commercial
overlay.”
Among the sites included in the rezoning
plan include 568 W. 125th Street, where
there is currently a one-story building built
in 1957. Under the planned Mandatory Inclusionary
Housing (MIH), the site could
be built up to 17 with up to 272,425 square
feet of fl oor area, including ground-fl oor
retail.
Redevelopment on this site could produce
an estimated 353 residential units,
with about 88 of those being affordable,
FILE PHOTO
compared to the 141 units with zero affordable
units that could presently be built.
Another development site in the proposed
rezoning is 2861-2871 Broadway,
which currently consists of four twoto
three-story buildings built between
1912-1940. Under the proposed rezoning
with MIH, the site could be built out to
23 stories, with up to 181,476 square feet
of fl oor area, including ground-fl oor retail.
Redevelopment on this site could produce
an estimated 245 residential units with
roughly 61 of those units being affordable,
compared to the 138 units with zero affordable
according to current zoning.
The plan does defi ne what it considers
affordable in regard to area mean income
(AMI) or very-low-, low or moderate
income.
The plan also calls for expanding the
commercial corridor to include a majority
of Broadway from West 114th Street to
West 125th Streets, where there is currently
no commercial overlay.
“I’m grateful to Council Member Mark
Levine and the NYC Council land use
offi ce for collaborating on this thorough
study that presents a balance between preservation
and new development, protecting
current residents and creating opportunities
for affordable housing,” said Brewer.
“I look forward to continued engagement
with residents and stakeholders to create a
solid proposal.”
Johnson said the study recognizes the
diffi cult moment that the city is in and
seeks to address our affordability crisis
head on.
“And unlike other plans, the city has put
forth, this one is actually coming to us from
the community themselves. Their goal is
our goal: to increase affordable housing
and preserve the units we do have,” said
Johnson. “I’m proud of the work the Council
has done here, and I hope to see more
community-driven plans going forward.”
Faith leaders tell Cuomo they are essential to vaccine effort
BY DEAN MOSES
Faith leaders from all over New York
City gathered upon the steps of the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine on
May 6 to tell Governor Andrew Cuomo
that they, too, are essential workers.
The grand house of worship on Amsterdam
Avenuebecame the hub which unifi ed
an amalgamation of religions on Thursday
afternoon as priests, pastors, imams, and
more called for places of worship to be
deemed essential vaccine sites.
Organized by The Black Institute and
the 67th Precinct Clergy Council, religious
leaders argue they are in a unique position
to aid in the facilitation of COVID-19 vaccines
by both bringing the life saving needle
to the neighborhoods of those who need it.
They also say that as trusted community
leaders, they can showcase the safety of the
vaccines to their parishioners.
“We’re demanding that Governor
Cuomo immediately designate our houses
of worship as essential so that more of our
people can get vaccinated against COVID
and begin to recover. Our houses of worship
can play a big role in vaccinating Black
Onlookers listened intently as Rev. Canon Patrick Malloy opened the rally at
Cathedral Saint John the Divine.
and Brown New Yorkers, but Governor
Cuomo must designate them as essential
to make that happen. Until a larger number
of our folks are vaccinated against COVID,
our communities will be left out of the
recovery after COVID. Cuomo must act
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
now and designate houses of worship as
essential, so we can operate as long-term
COVID vaccination sites and community
health centers,” said Pastor Gil Monrose,
leader of the 67th Precinct Clergy Council.
Several churchgoers and fellow New
Yorkers arrived at the rally to show their support
for the men and women who took turns
speaking on the importance of being deemed
essential. Those surrounding the steps held
signs and chanted between statements. But
it wasn’t only citizens who agreed with the
call to action, several elected offi cials also
lent their voice to the cause.
Manhattan Borough Gale Brewer,
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards,
and Brooklyn Borough President/
mayoral candidate Eric Adams all arrived
to show their support.
“I want to thank our faith leaders who
have been on the forefront of addressing
COVID-19. When others fl ed, I was there
with you. We were on the ground; I spoke
with my faith leaders when family members
were dropping their family members
at the hospital never to see them again.
When they were piled up in trailers upon
trailers. When they were buried on Hart
Island, when no one was there we should
have allowed faith leaders to go inside the
hospitals with proper protection to give
Last Rights and to console those family
members,” Adams said to a round of
applause.
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