{"id":304763,"date":"2021-07-21T20:57:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T17:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nycs-soho-rezoning-plan-doesnt-address-the-real-issues-pols-say\/"},"modified":"2021-07-21T20:57:09","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T17:57:09","slug":"nycs-soho-rezoning-plan-doesnt-address-the-real-issues-pols-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nycs-soho-rezoning-plan-doesnt-address-the-real-issues-pols-say\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC’s SoHo rezoning plan doesn’t address the ‘real issues,’ pols say"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#NYC’s SoHo rezoning plan doesn’t address the ‘real issues,’ pols say<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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The de Blasio administration\u2019s push to build thousands of apartments in SoHo is facing pushback from local lawmakers who say the city planning department has displayed a \u201ctroubling\u201d lack of regard for input from neighborhood nonprofit groups.<\/p>\n

City Councilwomen Margaret Chin and Carlina Rivera said Tuesday that the Department of City Planning \u201chas not addressed real issues raised by sincere housing and community advocates\u201d in its rezoning proposal for the neighborhood, which critics say lacks enough truly affordable housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there has unfortunately been a fair share of fear-mongering and disrespect shown during the discussion, the outright disregard of groups like Cooper Square Committee and NoHo Bowery Stakeholders from DCP is incredibly troubling,\u201d said Chin and Rivera, two lower Manhattan Democratic Council members, in a joint statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when our city is desperately in need of affordable homes \u2014 particularly in wealthy, centrally located neighborhoods where no new affordable housing has been built and no affordable units currently exist \u2014 we must do better.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Margaret
Councilwoman Margaret Chin said that the administration has \u201cnot addressed real issues raised by sincere housing and community advocates\u201d in Soho.<\/figcaption>
Ron Adar \/ M10s \/ MEGA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: \u2013 We need more housing \u2013 We must ensure a respectful debate on these issues \u2013 @NYCPlanning\u2019s disregard<\/a> of constructive dialogue can\u2019t continue,\u201d Rivera added in a tweet<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cDCP must come back with revisions so the proposal can guarantee max affordable units,\u201d Chin said<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Currently, the blueprint for the neighborhood zoning reform includes 900 below-market-rate apartments and more than 3,000 total homes. <\/p>\n

\"A
A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio insists that the rezoning in SoHo will \u201cbring affordable housing to two of the wealthiest and least accessible communities in the country.\u201d<\/figcaption>
John Nacion\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Carlina
Carlina Rivera and Margaret Chin penned this letter expressing their concerns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In response, a rep for Mayor Bill de Blasio touted the apartments offered at moderate rents that the plan would bring to the pricy neighborhood if app<\/a>roved. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe SoHo rezoning will finally bring affordable housing to two of the wealthiest and least accessible communities in the country,\u201d said spokesman Mitch Schwartz. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t want to move forward without giving a voice to all the stakeholders who care about the community,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful for the input, and we\u2019re excited to continue the thorough public review process this plan deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the city\u2019s proposal, the rezoning area is between Canal Street and Astor Place and between Sixth Avenue and the Bowery.<\/p>\n

It includes three \u201chousing opportunity zones\u201d where developers would be able to build new apartments, as well as a \u201ccommercial corridor\u201d between Broadway and Lafayette Street where retail would be legalized. <\/p>\n

Moses Gates, vice president for housing and neighborhood planning at the Regional Plan Association, told The Post the city can and should modify the SoHo blueprint to ensure the largest amount of income-targeted housing units are built, not office buildings. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all looking for significant affordable housing to be built, and I think the biggest concern is that the allowed commercial densities are too high, and that a rezoning intended for mixed-income housing will end up as a rezoning for office buildings,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe intention from the advocates and the city is to increase the amount of affordable housing and mixed-income housing in the neighborhood,\u201d he added. \u201cThat goal is, to some extent, threatened by the allowable commercial densities as part of this rezoning. That\u2019s the concern that needed to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been said last year that the rezoning process moving forward was driven in part by the coronavirus pandemic economic downturn and anti-police brutality protests ignited by a Minneapolis cop killing George Floyd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic and the movement for racial justice make clear that all neighborhoods must pull their weight to provide safe, affordable housing options,\u201d Been said in October 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Councilwoman
Councilwoman Carlina Rivera says that a respectful debate on the issue of affordable housing can\u2019t happen with \u201cdisregard of constructive dialogue.\u201d<\/figcaption>
William Farrington<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some neighborhood activists aren\u2019t buying it. <\/p>\n

A recent public meeting on the SoHo rezoning devolved into chaos, as fuming local residents repeatedly interrupted a Department of City Planning official who was presenting the de Blasio administration\u2019s rezoning initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalsely framing the SoHo\/NoHo Rezoning as a \u2018social<\/a> justice\u2019 plan, the mayor is doing injustice to communities of color in Chinatown and the LES,\u201d said Zishun Zing of the Chinatown Working Group.\n <\/p><\/div>\n