Two years of controversy was capped Wednesday as the city passed a sweeping rezoning of the SoHo and NoHo neighborhoods.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly to approve the SoHo/NoHo rezoning by a 43 – 8 margin, thereby completing the final step in ULURP. The passage happened in the nick of time, with just two weeks remaining in Mayor de Blasio’s term.
The councilmembers who voted no were Ben Kallos, Carlos Menchaca, Robert Holden, Inez Barron, and Kalman Yeager.
Next stop is de Blasio’s office for the proverbial rubber stamp.
In a gloating joint release, Councilmembers Carlina Rivera and Margaret Chin (who is leaving office) hailed the vote as a victory for housing, despite “roadblocks from from private interests, political pressure, scare tactics, and misinformation.”
“The final zoning map and text are a product of countless hours of negotiation with the Administration and in-depth discussion with community stakeholders,” Chin said. “As a City Council Member I believe it is my responsibility to create equal housing opportunities in high-opportunity neighborhoods for low-income New Yorkers, and I am confident that this rezoning accomplishes that goal.”
“This historic rezoning will create a rational framework for equitable housing generation and retail operation – one that I hope we will see replicated in neighborhoods throughout the Five Boroughs in the years to come,” Rivera echoed. “Through hard work and rigorous process, made possible only by the unwavering dedication of our teams and advocates to building a better future for all New Yorkers, we were able to balance the concerns of community stakeholders while centering our main goal: to incentivize the creation of affordable housing in a transit- and resource-rich neighborhood.”
The most vocal opponent of the rezoning, Village Preservation, wasn’t buying it, though.
“This plan is a giant giveaway to real estate interests, with the promise that a tiny percentage of that enormous gift will be returned to the public in the form of new affordable housing,” executive director Andrew Berman responded in a statement. “The reality is in by far the majority of cases, it won’t. What it will do is prompt a flood of luxury condos, giant big-box chain stores and high-priced corporate offices and hotels, and generate enormous pressure and incentive to demolish hundreds of units of affordable rent-regulated housing in the area, displacing lower-income residents who are disproportionately seniors, artists, and Asian Americans.
8 comments:
No sympathy - they stood by as the preservation effort in one community after another died for one reason or another - mostly lack of support from their elected offiicals. Nothing gets you ignored by their funding list like getting a pro-preseravtion platform - which is something that cuts out the heart of their support - funds from developers.
A few decades past, for one brief time, there were groups around the city that sprung up but the big guys with communities that had the money, which could have formed the cornerstone of political network to sustain them, turned their noses up.
So now, they are alone and its time for the New York Real Estate, through their stooges in office, to go after them. Sad. They are toast.
Why, outgoing Council is really twisting the knife in right before they leave. This city is screwed
"displacing lower-income residents who are disproportionately seniors, artists, and Asian Americans."
Yeah but most of the buildings that will be put up will be done by Chinese developers using imported Chinese construction labor. And they will fill up with Asians.
Asians are a lot less "low income" then you think, because they do loads of cash business and don't report income. And every Chinese granny that steps of the jumbo jet is on a full set of benefits the next day no matter her income level. Ka ching!!!
Build baby build! Yiyby! Yes in your back yard!
Now all those village liberals have received a good dose of what they asked for.
How's that knife to the throat from behind your back feel sheep?
Your $3+ million dollars condos are going to be worth much less
People keep having babies. They got to live somewhere !
@"Now all those village liberals have received a good dose of what they asked for."
It's SoHo and NoHo, not the village. Where are you from ? Ohio? Get your dumb redneck ass back to whatever truck-stop you were conceived in Akron.
you were conceived in Akron.
Still beats 42nd Street.
Do you know your father or Father's Day is a universal day for you?
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