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It’s not entirely clear when the official review will begin for the de Blasio administration’s plan to rezone a large swath of the Jerome Avenue corridor. But the unofficial debate in the Bronx neighborhoods affected by the proposal has been going on for more than two years, dating back to when the administration referred to the area as Cromwell-Jerome, a label that’s been dropped because no one who lived there recognized it. The Bronx Coalition for a Community Vision, a gathering of community groups and labor unions, issued a list of demands in October 2015, almost a year before the city launched the environmental review that’s required before formal consideration of the plan can commence.
Even when the Uniform Land-Use Review Procedure (ULURP) does begin, everyone’s eyes will be on a less formal mechanism: The sway that, by custom, the local councilmembers whose districts overlap with the rezoning area will have over the final vote on the rezoning proposal. That’s why the coalition invited Fernando Cabrera and Vanessa Gibson to a “town hall” last Thursday.
The full video from that event and a brief account can be seen here. Below are video snippets that highlight the eight questions the two elected officials faced:
Question 1: A new subsidy term sheet for affordable housing?
Question 2: What does income diversity mean to you?
Question 3: Do you support a ‘certificate of no harassment’ requirement?
Question 4: Who sits on an anti-displacement task force?
Question 5: Will auto shops be displaced?
Question 6: Will we get local hiring?
Question 7: Will there be apprenticeship opportunities?
Question 8: Are you willing to delay ULURP and/or vote ‘no’?
