“Community Boards are currently being asked to do more with less,” wrote a task force of district managers and administrative staffers in a report released last month. “Especially in the last year-and-a-half, community boards have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.”
‘Upon close examination, the speaker’s proposal falls short and leaves the door wide open for the continuation of City Planning’s top-down, developer-driven rezonings by offering them a new shroud of legitimacy: a comprehensive plan engineered by city officials that fast-tracks rezonings.’
To get a better sense of what was seen around the city last week, City Limits surveyed all the city’s 59 community boards to ask what violent unrest—and peaceful protest—they had seen.
Inwood’s rhythms and feel seem unchanged a year after the rezoning. But physical changes are underway, with more to come.
The neighborhood has been in the middle of a tug-of-war between some local leaders and citywide policy over how far to go to accomodate bikers.
Some are worried proposed height limits leave too much room for developers, or too little room for homeowners who want to sell. Affordability options and a playground project are also on residents’ minds.
But the plan faces a host of questions abut affordability, small business protections, traffic, parks and drainage.
For the first time, the city’s Community Health Survey sought to learn whether and where New Yorkers felt they had helpful neighbors.
The mayor in 2015 set a goal of rezoning up to 15 neighborhoods in a drive to create more density and more affordable housing. Five rezonings have passed and at least three are likely to move forward in 2019.
‘Voting yes on to create term limits on community boards will open up the process so that more young people, like me, can apply, and, hopefully, get appointed to their local community board. ‘
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.
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