LOCAL NEWS
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES SoHo plan approved
City Council gives green light to controversial rezoning
BY MAX PARROTT AND
ROBERT POZARYCKI
The contested SoHo
and NoHo rezoning
gained formal approval
Wednesday from the City
Council.
The proposal, which would
largely create more residential
and retail space, passed in a 15-1
vote in favor in the Land Use
Committee and passed unanimously
in the Zoning and Franchise
Subcommittee on Dec. 9.
The full Council approved the
plan during its stated meeting
on Dec. 15.
The rezoning, which covers
56 blocks in the neighborhoods
mostly zoned for manufacturing
use, was proposed by Mayor de
Blasio last year as a late-tenure
attempt to create affordable
housing in the affl uent Manhattan
neighborhoods.
“It marks a critical change to
the city’s historic practice of focusing
neighborhood rezoning
on communities of color, moving
us toward a more equitable
future where all neighborhoods
contribute their fair share to
our ongoing housing crisis facing
New York City,” said Noho
Councilmember and Speaker
candidate Carlina Rivera.
A last minute scramble to negotiate
the zoning text, which
was “excruciating” according to
Lower Manhattan Councilmember
Margaret Chin, resulted in
several modifi cations from the
version that was passed by the
Department of City Planning in
October.
“After receiving a scope of
work that fell short of what we
in the community wanted. We
began a rigorous series of tough
negotiations and internal reviews
so that we could do our
best by the neighborhood,” said
Rivera.
The modifi cations include the
reduction of commercial fl oorarea
ratio in order to encourage
housing development, the
elimination of dorm and college
university usage and the requirement
of the city’s Mandatory
Inclusionary Housing plan one
for new development, requiring
fewer rent-restricted units overall,
but maintaining a deeper
level of affordability.
Additionally the changes include
a set of limitations for new
retail establishments. A modifi -
cation places imitations on eating
and drinking establishments
everywhere in the rezoning area
to 8,500 square feet of fl oor area
per establishment. The text also
includes a special permit process
for large-scale retail of over
10,000 or 25,000 square feet
depending on the street size in
order to take quality of life issues
into play.
“In every single neighborhood
in the city, especially in
neighborhoods that are rich and
they got to contribute,” said City
Council Member Margaret Chin
during a briefi ng with Mayor
Bill de Blasio prior to the Dec.
15 vote. “At the same time, we’re
also preserving art and culture.
... We will open up more opportunity
for artists to live and work
in this neighborhood.”
City Planning offi cials predict
that the plan will produce 3,500
units of housing, including 900
affordable units. But opponents
of the plan have pointed out that
planner estimates of this type
have been shown to overestimate
the number of affordable
units.
These critics loudly panned
the news that the rezoning had
overcome another hurdle.
“Study after study showed
that the plan is likely to produce
little if any affordable housing,
and is almost surgically designed
to discourage the construction
of affordable housing, and the
modifi cations made by the City
Council will do little to change
that,” said Andrew Berman,
the executive director of Village
Preservation.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams
Adams lays
out plans
to AARP NY
BY SKYE OSTREICHER
Tune in to politicsny.
com to learn how
Mayor-elect Eric
Adams will raise the issue
of ageism and make sure his
administration confronts it
head on.
Beth Finkel, State Director
of AARP New York, shared
with Mayor-elect Adams,
“one of our thoughts is
actually renaming NYC’s
Dept of the Aging – not a very
forward-thinking name – and
I’m thinking it’d be right up
your alley to come up with a
stronger, better name.”
To which Adams replied,
“we’re looking for Seniors to
come up with the best name
for it… We are open. The name
should be more active than
the Department of Aging. I
say it’s the Department of
Living. Whatever name our
seniors come up with, we’re
gonna put it out to you.”
Adams is expected to
roll out a 100-day plan that
aims to make the city more
inclusive for all, including the
seniors who call it home.
This interview is sponsored
by AARP New York, which
represents 750,000 members
in New York City.
Watch the full interview on
politicsny.com.
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