Gotham Gazette and City Limits review the week in housing policy news, from the Democratic candidates touring NYCHA buildings, to Mayor de Blasio winning another vote in favor of rezoning.
As housing justice advocates across the city review the outcomes in East New York, many say the results attest to the power of community organizing, especially when stakeholders put forth detailed policy alternatives.
After two years of pressure, protests and plans, the first de Blasio rezoning cleared its first legislative hurdle.
Details were still fluid but it appeared the final deal fell well short of what advocates had been hoping for.
Rafael Espinal is putting pressure on the de Blasio administration to tweak the details of the proposed rezoning, as groups skeptical about the city’s plans put pressure on him.
The WNYC-Nation series ‘There Goes the Neighborhood’ goes into East New York, the housing market and zoning … and City Limits goes there with them.
Rents and purchase prices are rising in the area. Evidence is mixed whether that’s because of the rezoning or the very market pressures the mayor says necessitate the zoning change.
Rising commercial rents could threaten independent stores in the neighborhood. The de Blasio administration is studying the commercial landscape and developing a plan.
Legislators’ concerns over the plan to rezone East New York mirror their worries about the mayor’s citywide proposals. A deal seems likely. Its exact shape remains anybody’s guess.
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.
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