Rezoning of East New York could be a good housing plan for Mayor Bill de Blasio but not for the entire New York City.
Recent study shows that rezoning of the Brooklyn area may not be really advantageous but would only cause a shortage of public school spaces and child care facilities instead. There will be lack of open space if rezoning pushes through, according to The Real Deal.
While it could be true that de Blasio's initiative is a good idea, the City Planning Commission of NYC believes such initiative is not a better idea after it released last week its final statement addressing the city mayor's rezoning plan.
Moreover, Brooklyn Council members, Inez Barron and Rafael Espinal, have expressed their strong opposition against the rezoning plan during an affair on East NY rezoning last Feb.18.
"I understand what our community needs and I am fighting for a plan that works for all of us because, just like you, I want to see a plan that benefits our community," Councilman Rafael Espinal declared at the Cypress Hills' Blessed Sacrament Church Thursday night.
Espinal also talked about a more affordable housing as well as his worries of displacement and also explained their concerns to the mayor himself, according to My Informs.
"I am not favorable of the plan as it stands and I will continue fighting for the next two months to make sure that our needs are met," Espinal added.
Barron is also not amenable to the idea of rezoning, pointing out that the whole plan is not for the benefit of all in the city.
"Affordable for whom? That's not us. We've got to continue to look at the whole picture, the global picture. I am not supporting the plan as it exists. I am not supporting MIH and I am not supporting ZQA," Barron strongly remarked.
East New York is one of the boroughs that will be rezoned and is the first of 15 neighborhoods that will be affected by the city mayor's rezoning plan. Taking shape in the East New York, Cypress Hill and Ocean Hill neighborhoods, specifically in the 190-block area, will be 6,492 new apartments and 1.3 million square feet of retail, office space and community facilities, as per Politico.
Meanwhile, residents that will be affected by the rezoning fear that their homes will now be expensive if the rezoning is pushed through. According to Scott Stringer, City Comptroller, rezoning could displace about 50,000 residents. He also found out that the plan's units would be too expensive for the 55 percent of the current residents. Yet, the administration promises that they will do the best they can to ensure that half of the new units can be afforded by the existing residents, The Real Deal reports.
The final decision whether this rezoning be materialized or not is yet to come. The source says the City Commission is slated to vote on the East New York rezoning plan this last week of February. The City Council will cast their vote come this spring, about 50 days from now.
