By: Lauren Roland
In 2014, Mayor De Blasio pledged to rezone 15 neighborhoods within the five boroughs as part of his affordable housing plan (Richardson 2014). These neighborhoods included East New York, East Harlem, Inwood, Midtown East, Jerome Ave, Bay Street and Downtown Far Rockaway, among others (NYC Mayor’s Office). Rezoning these neighborhoods was supposed to increase affordable housing, quality of life and accessibility for residents. However, a city council meeting in early 2019 revealed the city does not go back and study the impact the rezoning has on neighborhoods once it is finished (Spivack 2019).
Susan Amron, general counsel at the Department of City Planning mentioned that “the city does not go back in 10, 15 years to figure out precisely if our projections actually come to be” (Spivack 2019). This comment proves to be highly problematic, as the current review process, known as the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) only predicts how rezonings will affect neighborhoods in terms of transportation infrastructure, housing and displacement (Spivack 2019). The CEQR is not held accountable for going back to determine if the predictions work or if they actually have the opposite effect on the neighborhood.
Rezonings are often met with hostility from current residents of the neighborhood, as many believe rezoning increases housing costs and encourages gentrification, eventually displacing longtime residents. For example, Inwood was slated to begin rezoning this year; however residents filed a lawsuit, alleging the city did not take a look at the impact the rezoning would have on the community (Kim 2019). After deliberations went on for months, in December 2019, a Manhattan judge finally struck down De Blasio’s plan to rezone Inwood (Calder 2019).
Originally approved by the City Council in August 2018, Judge Verna Saunders nullified the approval after siding with business owners and residents of Inwood (Calder 2019). The rezoning plan of inwood included 59 blocks and $200 million in funding for improvement projects surrounding affordable housing and community development. The lawsuit warned that the rezoning of Inwood would have ‘socio-economic consequences’ such as driving out longtime residents and gentrifying the neighborhood, ultimately rendering Inwood unaffordable (Calder 2019).
Judge Saunders ruled that the city’s current review process (the CEQR) was inadequate in determining how rezoning would affect Inwood. Saunders sent the ruling back to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development for further review and study on the consequences of the rezoning (Calder 2019).
New York City’s law department responded with a statement that said that they “disagreed with the ruling and will challenge the decision” (Calder 2019). The law department believes the creation of 1,600 affordable units in the rezoning plan for Inwood and other community projects have been thoroughly reviewed for environmental and socio-economic consequences.
In the case of Inwood, community activists were able to put rezoning on hold until more research is done on the effects. However, this is not always the case for most neighborhoods and rezoning often comes quickly, making changes before residents can catch up and have a say. Rezoning can be a powerful tool to build up neighborhoods and bring affordable housing as well as economic development to areas that need a boost. However, the City of New York should take precaution when studying rezoning to ensure that it does not drive out longtime residents or cause the neighborhood to become vastly unaffordable. It is doable, but those in charge of carrying out the rezoning must be willing to take the time and effort to work with local residents to come up with solutions that work for everyone.
Sources:
Calder, Rich (19, December 2019) Manhattan Judge Strikes Down De Blasio’s Inwood Rezoning. Retrieved From:
https://nypost.com/2019/12/19/manhattan-judge-strikes-down-de-blasios-inwood-rezoning-plan/
Kim, Elizabeth (13, August 2019) “Massively Out of Scale”: Inwood Groups Battle in Court over City’s Rezoning Plan. Retrieved from:
NYC Mayor’s Office (30, December 2019) Neighborhood Rezoning Commitments Tracker Retrieved from:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/operations/performance/neighborhood-rezoning-commitments-tracker.page
Richardson, Nikita (23, May 2014) De Blasio Administration to Rezone 15 Neighborhoods
Retrieved from:
http://www.bkmag.com/2014/05/23/de-blasio-administration-to-rezone-15-neighborhoods/
Spivack, Caroline (8, May 2019) Rezonings transform NYC neighborhoods-but the city doesn’t meaningfully study their impacts