Touting community benefits, Councilman Rafael Espinal supported the rezoning of East New York in April. We checked in with him on the impact of the rezoning—and the delivery on promises—so far.
It’s unclear how closely the city’s rezoning proposal will follow the most detailed community-based plan to emerge during the two-plus years of the de Blasio administration’s housing push.
‘This problem didn’t start with the current mayor but it’s not ending either. Now is the time to stop zoning without planning and frankly address racialized displacement.’
The city could use its seizure powers to facilitate the redevelopment of Far Rockaway. But a law firm’s promotional material has alarmed many property owners who are not even potential targets, the city says.
The limited scope, curious criteria and advisory nature of those studies has some community advocates worried the city will miss the problems Mayor de Blasio’s zoning changes could cause.
It’s early in the process, and a lot of voices still must be heard, but so far the proposal to rezone the Queens community appears to have received a more positive reaction than any previous de Blasio planning initiative.
Even as borough presidents have been offering incremental changes, like the appointment of several teenage board members in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, several Council bills to reform term limits and mandate demographic reporting from board members have stalled.
Recent citywide projects like the mayor’s affordable-housing plan have reignited long-standing critiques of community boards—about the value of their advisory votes and how effective they are at reflecting the will of the diverse community districts they represent.
The system would document every commitment that gets made. One matter for debate: What exactly constitutes a commitment?
A skyscraper is more than just a building. And Manhattan’s new generation of supertall buildings are more than mere skyscrapers. They are an expression, to some, of wealth’s metastasizing supremacy.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
