Rezoning East New York

 

An overflow crowd packed into Brooklyn Borough Hall today for the City Planning Commission's public hearing on the de Blasio Administration's proposal to rezone East New York/Cypress Hills. This is the first major rezoning of the de Blasio era, and the first concrete test of the comprehensive, neighborhood-based planning approach that this Administration has committed to taking. This should be an opportunity for the City to show that that the priorities of local residents, business owners, and workers can be met through the City's planning process. The local Coalition for Community Advancement  developed its own detailed plan to address local needs through with zoning and other legal tools.

 

But today the Coalition asked the City Planning Commission to vote "No, unless..." on the City plan because many of the community recommendations were excluded from plan certified by the Department of City Planning, which is now working its way through the final stages of the land use process.

 

One of the key concerns of the Coalition is that the new housing created under the rezoning will be largely unaffordable to existing residents, given the levels of income within the East New York study area relative to the levels of affordability the city is proposing. The City's plan says it will provide affordable housing in two ways: through subsidies and through the new proposed Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. However, neither of these methods, as currently proposed, would meet the needs of the local area's current residents.

 

At the same time, the rezoning is likely to increase displacement pressure in the neighborhood's existing affordable housing stock. The majority of housing units within the study area are in small un-regulated buildings, where tenants have very few rights or protections if rents increase. In addition, there are approximately 3,000 units of rent-regulated housing in the area, which represent a vital commodity for any neighborhood. Absent strong, proactive anti-displacement policies to protect these existing affordable units, and the people living in them, the local community fears it will lose more than it gains in the rezoning in terms of housing affordable to the local population.

 

The Administration did unveil a new aspect of their zoning plan this week, with a focus on integrating economic and workforce development into the plan for East New York. . A Workforce1 center that provides job training for local residents is certainly a much-needed and long-overdue resource. Likewise, we commend SBS and EDC for collaborating with local community groups in an effort to create vibrant commercial corridors while preserving existing small businesses and increasing support for business growth and capacity; improving access to capital for small business owners; and minimizing red tape through the Small Business First initiative. However, despite the first steps the administration has taken toward economic development and job growth, these initiatives do not replace the need for truly affordable housing for current East New York residents. These programs, though vital, will have little value if the residents they aim to serve can no longer afford to stay in their community.