Stringer Conditionally Green Lights Lower East Side Rezoning
Borough President Scott Stringer has endorsed the city's proposed rezoning of the Lower East Side, giving a boost to a plan that would allow for more residential development while adding restrictions to other types, including dorms.
His endorsement of the plan, issued today, comes as the City Planning Commission gears up for a mega-hearing Wednesday, with throngs of community members expected to deliver testimony on proposed rezonings of the Lower East Side, the planned middle income-intensive Hunters Point South development near Long Island City, and the proposed redevelopment of Willets Point by Shea Stadium.
The Lower East Side rezoning cuts back on a density bonus given to "community facilities," which include dorms and buildings with medical offices and other uses, while allowing developers in parts of the neighborhood to build bigger if they include below-market rate housing.
The rezoning has received criticism from some in Chinatown who are upset about being left out of its boundaries and others who wanted the Bowery included. However, given that it does not allow for that much new development, it does not seem to be the controversy magnet that some other rezoning plans are, and has mostly won support from the community board and other groups in the area.
As part of his endorsement, which is non-binding, Mr. Stringer conditioned his support on extending the housing bonus, called inclusionary zoning, to elsewhere in the area, along with a short list of other changes.
"Rezoning is important for this neighborhood's future, but rezoning alone will not provide a comprehensive solution to all the issues facing the Lower East Side," he said in a statement.
