According to residents, developers are not waiting for the city’s study or the possible city-sponsored rezoning and are avoiding the community by going through spot rezonings.
Almost lost in the drama of the Council’s final votes on the Inwood rezoning was one member’s vow not to negotiate any more changes to the zoning map until the city committed to study the effect of revisions so far.
Bitterly opposed by many neighborhood residents, the rezoning passed the Council with a single no vote.
Two days before the final City Council vote, hundreds rallied against the plan and several submitted to arrest. What is their argument against the plan that the mayor proposes and the Council looks likely to approve?
Tenants in illegal basement and cellar apartments typically have no lease and limited rights while living in substandard conditions.
The controversial ‘Commercial U’ is out, and the rezoning has cleared its subcommittee and committee votes.
Two Councilmembers invited neighborhood stakeholders to draft a rezoning plan. But it could encounter the same misgivings that top-down plans have faced.
The city’s announcement of a developer for one site and financing for the first phase of work at another encountered cautious optimism among neighborhood stakeholders.
The city’s framework leaves big questions to answer, forces major issues off the table altogether, and triggers legitimate doubts about the unintended consequences of a rezoning. It also could be a genuine attempt to fashion the neighborhood everyone wants.
The Council subcommittee hearing brings the proposed rezoning one step closer to a final vote.
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.
