The two sides disagreed on what might seem like a simple, factual question: whether or not the stakeholders’ vision for the neighborhood was a ‘downzoning.’
‘On matters of land use, the City Council traditionally follows the wishes of the Councilmember in whose district the change is proposed. That’s a problematic approach on ordinary matters. And the borough jails plan is extraordinary.’
A state Supreme Court judge’s decision released Thursday could send the developers behind proposed four high-rises in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood back to square one.
Community groups and elected officials hoping to stop four high-rises planned for Two Bridges have taken the city to court. Win or lose there, they are also pursuing elements of the Chinatown Working Group rezoning plan that City Planning dismissed in 2015.
There are some similarities between the community and city rezoning proposals but the differences are important to Bushwick community members who say they have waited for decades for serious public investments in their neighborhood.
‘Last winter another agency, the New York City Department of City Planning deliberately circumvented the Council’s oversight when it told the City Planning Commission that it had to approve four mega towers proposed to be built right on top of existing buildings.’
And who’s afraid of the pied-a-terre tax?
Can’t make the February 28 meeting? Tune in here.
‘They heard us for the most part but they did not get everything right. And that is what this part is about.’
“I know that not everyone is excited about the idea of new residential and commercial development at heights taller than the surrounding brownstone neighborhoods. But I genuinely believe we are on the way to getting the balance right.”