The 12-1 vote by the City Planning Commission reflected all the contours of the larger debate over the de Blasio housing plan: Some lauded the city’s efforts to serve low-income groups while others insisted those policies don’t gone far enough.
“Simply put, inviting significantly more building in low-income communities without guarantees that most or all of the new housing will be affordable to current residents may increase, not reduce, the risk of displacement.”
The de Blasio administration’s intention to rezone parts of East New York and a corridor along Jerome Avenue have generated a lot of heat. A quieter discussion is taking place over a bid to revamp a heavily industrial chunk on the shore of Flushing Creek.
The January 10 conference on gentrification sponsored by CASA, the Bronx Documentary Center and City Limits looked at many of the questions around the most weighted word in local policy discussions today.
Testifying about a controversial rezoning proposal, the HPD commissioner rejected the idea that city-subsidized apartments would charge rents out of step with prevailing rents or average incomes in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
An elaborate community planning process underway in East Harlem has the Council speaker’s backing, foundation support, critics and fans. What it doesn’t have is a sense of whether and how the city will be guided by the plan it produces.
The looming City Council debate about the mayor’s rezoning proposals should grapple with a deeper question: Should New York accept a future as a hyper-dense metropolis, or try to recapture a human-scaled city?
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer recommended approval of the mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan after the administration agreed to address a range of concerns about the proposal. She rejected a second zoning proposal, however.
The Bronx Borough Board voted against City Hall’s proposals.
As many community boards around the city balk at proposed zoning changes, Commissioner Vicki Been cites research suggesting fears of displacement are overblown.
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