The City Economic Development Corporation’s four years of careful engagement with Harlem’s local civic organizations around plans to rezone most of 125th Street for new retail and housing development appeared to yield results on Wednesday morning, as the City Planning Commission held a hearing on the proposal.
One group that weighed in, Voice Of The Everyday People (VOTE People), disapproves of the plan entirely and urged EDC to go back to the drawing board, with a larger and more inclusive advisory body from the community. But for the most part, Community Boards 9, 10, and 11 have gotten behind the plan, expressing specific reservations but supporting the overall goal of rezoning and revitalizing Harlem. Accordingly, much of the testimony at the hearing centered on ideas for making a rezoned 125th Street work for Harlem and its residents and businesses. Of special concern was the inevitability — acknowledged by the City in its own Environmental Impact Statement — that rezoning will displace existing businesses.
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New York Neighborhoods/Development and Preservation: The Fate of the
Far West Side
The Hudson Yards and Far West Side of Manhattan have been rezoned, and
plans have been proposed, discussed, debated, revised, opposed, and
embraced. What’s now in store for the largest billion-dollar
development project in Manhattan? Join the ongoing conversation on the
future of the Far West Side with a panel of key players and experts.
James Stewart Polshek, FAIA, will moderate the evening’s discussion
with participants Anna Hayes Levin, Chair of Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen
Land Use Committee of Community Board 4; Lynne B. Sagalyn, Professor
of Real Estate Development and Planning at the University of
Pennsylvania; and Richard Ravitch, former chairman of the MTA.
Co-sponsored by the Regional Plan Association. Reservations required.
$9 for non-members of the Museum; $5 for members, seniors, and
students.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
212.534.1672
www.mcny.org
St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street at Clinton
Alliance of Resident Theaters, Great Room, 138 S. Oxford Street between Atlantic Avenue and Hanson Place
Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog moderates a panel discussion on the ways that ordinary citizens can effect change in their neighborhoods. The event will be held on January 28, 2008 at 6:00 p.m., at the New York Historical Society: 170 Central Park West between 76th & 77th Streets.
Click here for more info or to RSVP.
The Department of Transportation is holding a public feedback workshop on potential parking policies for Downtown Brooklyn. Come share your ideas: RSVP by January 30th to (917) 339-0488, or send an email to: planycpark [at] hshassoc [dot] com. Be sure to include “Brooklyn Workshop” as the subject line.
The workshop will be held at Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Place at 8th Avenue. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the workshop will last from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone the area from 124th to 126th street, between Broadway and Second Avenue. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, January 30th beginning at 9:30 a.m., in Aaron Davis Hall (138 Convent Avenue at W. 135th Street).
The Times has some not-shocking news today about the Yankee Stadium “community benefits agreement.” According to the article, the board of the new entity charged with giving $1.2 million in annual cash contributions — or in game tickets and athletic gear, if the Yankees prefer that — to Bronx community organizations hasn’t met yet, and hasn’t even registered with the IRS. The group’s acting chairman is a contributor to Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, who brokered the agreement along with three Bronx councilmembers and the Yankees’ Randy Mastro (who, incidentally, was formerly Mayor Giuliani’s right hand).
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The Eminent Domain has been on hiatus, much as many of you have been, but in the spirit of Leno and Letterman we’re back. Consider this an opening monologue from your editor.
Over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to be joined here by other contributors, who live and work in neighborhoods dealing with major real estate projects. They’ll tell you about their meetings, their debates and their challenges in making development responsive to their communities’ needs. And they’ll offer their ideas about how New York can grow in a way that works for the people who live here — and how to make that happen in a city where politics-as-usual has a habit of crushing innovation.
For now, I’ll humbly note some news that will shape what 2008 will look like for the groups advocating for saner and more responsive development process in New York City:
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