East Village Rezoning Passes
PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
November 20, 2008
East Village Rezoning Passes
Yesterday the City Council enacted into law a sweeping rezoning of the East Village. The new zoning will for the first time establish height limits for new development throughout the affected area, reduce the allowable bulk of new development in most of the area, cap air rights transfers, eliminate the current zoning bonus for dorms and hotels, and create incentives for the creation and retention of affordable housing (CLICK HERE and HERE for details). This rezoning grew out of community efforts, and through the process the plan was improved to include stricter zoning limits in some areas of the neighborhood. GVSHP was one of many community groups working with Community Board 3 and local elected officials, especially Councilmember Rosie Mendez, to push for a much-needed rezoning of the East Village. The rezoning will prevent several development plans that had been in motion, such as the proposed 8-story condo-tower above the Russian Orthodox Cathedral at 59 East 2nd Street, a building which GVSHP is seeking to landmark.
One troubling shortcoming of the rezoning, however, was the exclusion of the 3rd and 4th Avenue corridors and the Bowery. GVSHP and others pushed very hard to get this area included, but the City stubbornly refused. GVSHP is working with community groups, the community board, and local elected officials, especially Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Borough President Scott Stringer, to advance a community-initiated rezoning plan for these blocks, which also desperately need it.
The historic research and landmarking proposals which the recently received Preserve NY grant allows GVSHP to undertake in the East Village follows logically upon the rezoning of the neighborhood. While zoning changes will help prevent inappropriate development, documentation and landmarking protections will ensure the long-overdue recognition and preservation of the East Village's vast historic cultural and architectural resources.
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
August 8, 2008
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
PRESERVATION UPDATE
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
December 17, 2007
This Sunday's NY Times City Section contained an article about overdevelopment on the Bowery and the effort to rezone the street to preserve its character -- see www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/thecity/16bowe.html?ref=thecity. GVSHP has been working with the local community board, community groups, and elected officials to push a plan for rezoning of the Bowery, which the City has resisted -- see below and www.gvshp.org/documents/AnthemionWinter2007-08.pdf#page=3.
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
June 15, 2007
East Village Rezoning -- Public Hearing June 25
East Village Rezoning: The proposed rezoning of much of the East Village and Lower East Side will begin to officially move forward on Monday, June 25th, when the Department of City Planning holds its public meeting on the draft scope of work for the environmental impact statement for the proposed rezoning. The hearing is at Spector Hall at the Department of City Planning, 22 Reade Street, from 2 to 5 pm and from 6 to 8:45 pm. CLICK HERE for the draft scope of work and HERE for the protocol for the scoping meeting. GVSHP sees the proposed rezoning as a very important step forward in protecting the East Village from inappropriate development, and the plan has been improved since first shared with the public, tightening restrictions on inappropriate development. However, there remain areas where the plan could be improved, and GVSHP is working with a coalition of community groups and the Community Board to advocate for further improvements through the scoping process. GVSHP is also working with the Community Board and community groups to seek a rezoning of the 3rd and 4th Avenue corridors and mid-blocks, and the Bowery, which the City has refused to include in the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning. The Community Board recently voted to move ahead with pursuing a community-initiated rezoning of these critical blocks which are threatened by inappropriate development.
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION UPDATE
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
April 13, 2007
CITY AGREES TO IMPROVEMENTS TO EAST VILLAGE REZONING
UPDATE ON EFFORT TO REZONE 3rd & 4th AVENUES
CITY AGREES TO SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO DRAFT EAST VILLAGE REZONING: In March, the City released a revised version of its original proposed rezoning for the East Village/Lower East Side. GVSHP had urged that the sidestreets in the East Village be further downzoned than in the original plan, to protect their scale and character, and to discourage tear-downs and rooftop additions. Working with other community groups, GVSHP had particularly identified several blocks south of Tompkins Square Park where clusters of very low-density early tenements required special protection, and further downzoning than in the City's original draft plan.
The revised rezoning plan released by the city in March made changes to specifically address these concerns, tightening restrictions and lowering allowable heights and densities on sidestreets that would dramatically increase protections for these areas (CLICK HERE for updated rezoning plan). However, the revised plan did not respond to several other concerns which had been expressed about height and density along Houston Street and Avenue D, and about the creation and preservation of affordable housing (CLICK HERE for more information).
HOW TO HELP:
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN EFFORT TO REZONE 3rd and 4th AVENUES: Because the City has refused to include the 3rd and 4th Avenue corridors in their draft East Village Rezoning Plan, GVSHP has been working with Community Board #3, and the offices of Borough President Stringer and Councilmember Mendez, to formulate a community-initiated rezoning plan for the area. Such a plan takes more time than rezonings initiated by the City, and ultimately still requires city approval, but can be a way of getting changes to protect a neighborhood when the City is not willing to do so on their own. Right now, the zoning for these blocks encourages huge dorms and hotels, like the ones NYU has built and is currently building. GVSHP has been advocating for new zoning to prevent the transfer of air rights, impose height limits (none currently exist there now), and eliminate the incentive for dorm and hotel construction and reinforce the largely residential character of the area. Thus some very preliminary recommendations are under discussion for zoning changes to pursue for these blocks -- CLICK HERE for recommendations. These appear to be the most restrictive zoning designations possible that would also meet the city's criteria for rezonings.
NEXT STEPS:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION UPDATE
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
December 28, 2006
Community Board Calls for Changes to E. Vil. Rezoning Plan
Community Board Calls for Changes to East Village Rezoning Plan: Last week, Community Board #3 adopted the recommendations of its 197A (Rezoning) Task Force (on which GVSHP sits), calling upon the City to make changes to their proposed rezoning plan for the East Village and to move swiftly to implement these changes in light of growing development pressure upon the neighborhood.
The Board’s recommendations called for (among other things): a further reduction in the allowable size of development on side streets, so that the rezoning would not inadvertently encourage out-of-context rooftop additions; a significant reduction in the proposed allowable size of development on Houston Street, Avenue D, and lower Second Avenue; incentives for the creation of affordable housing on all wide avenues in the East Village, and an increase overall in the amount and percentage of affordable housing to be created by the plan; and adoption of measures to prevent the unnecessary demolition of existing buildings in the neighborhood (see full resolution HERE).
Most of these recommendations were consistent with those which GVSHP had made to City Planning this fall to improve the plan (CLICK HERE for more details). For further information on the city’s current proposal for rezoning the East Village and the response to it, please see below and CLICK HERE and HERE.
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION UPDATE
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
November 7, 2006
CITY HEARS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON EAST VILLAGE REZONING PLAN
Yesterday more than 150 people attended a public presentation by the City of their draft rezoning plan for the East Village/Lower East Side (CLICK HERE and HERE). GVSHP has been working closely with Community Board #3, other community organizations, and elected officials such as Councilmember Rosie Mendez to get the City to put forward a rezoning plan which would better protect community character and prevent overdevelopment than the current zoning. Prior to the meeting, GVSHP sent a letter to City Planning Chair Amanda Burden outlining some of our concerns about the current draft plan (click here to read).
See articles in the Washington Square News and the New York Post for coverage of last night’s meeting.
It will be several months before any rezoning plan is finalized and goes through the official review and approval process. GVSHP will continue to work with other advocates, the Community Board, and elected officials to try to make the plan as strong as possible in preserving this neighborhood.
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PUBLIC MEETING
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
November 3, 2006
Dear Friend,
I wanted to be sure that you were aware of a very important public meeting this Monday at 6:30 pm at Cooper Union’s Engineering Building at 51 Astor Place in Woolman Auditorium, where the City will present its draft East Village/Lower East Side rezoning plan (for more information CLICK HERE and HERE). GVSHP has been working hard with other local community organizations, the Community Board, and local elected officials on this issue, as we are very concerned about increasing inappropriate and out-of-scale development in this neighborhood. GVSHP recently wrote to the City with some comments on the draft plan (click here to read).
The public meeting will be an important opportunity to learn more about the draft plan and the process it will follow, and to ask questions and provide feedback. If you are interested in preserving the East Village, I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO ATTEND THIS PUBLIC MEETING.
Andrew Berman, Executive Director
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
212/475-9585 x38
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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CLICK HERE for Op-Ed Pushing on Rezoning the East Village to Prevent More Mega-Dorm Development from The Villager.
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
August 25, 2006
Keeping Up Pressure for Rezoning to Prevent More Mega-Dorms
Zoning Protections Needed to Prevent More Mega-Dorms: On September 11th, the City is scheduled to bring its draft East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning Plan back to Community Board #3’s 197A Task Force for further discussion (the meeting is at 6:30 pm at University Settlement, 273 Bowery at Houston Street, rm. 1). GVSHP continues to urge that this largely very good and necessary plan be amended to include Third Avenue and the blocks to the west. These blocks are currently excluded and have some of the worst zoning in all the East Village, strongly encouraging the building of high-rise dorm and hotel towers, like the planned new NYU mega-dorm. See GVSHP’s op-ed recently published in the Villager on this subject.
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
August 11, 2006
*PUSHING CITY ON REZONING VULNERABLE BLOCKS IN LIGHT OF NYU MEGA-DORM PLAN
Pushing for Better Neighborhood Protections in Light of NYU Mega-Dorm Development: GVSHP continues to push the City to include Third Avenue and the blocks to the west in the draft proposed rezoning of the East Village, especially in light of NYU’s recently begun plans for a 26-story mega-dorm – to be the tallest building in the East Village.
City Planning Chair Amanda Burden recently responded to a wave of letters urging her to reconsider the decision to exclude these blocks from the proposed East Village rezoning. She cited the differences between these blocks and those in the proposed rezoning as the major reason for their exclusion. But what Chair Burden didn’t acknowledge is that there is no reason why areas with slightly different built environments cannot be included in the same rezoning (and that they are all the time). Nor has City Planning yet come up with any other solution for the grossly out-of-scale development which the current zoning for these blocks encourages (such as the NYU mega-dorm). CLICK HERE for GVSHP’s most recent letter to the Chair responding to her letter and urging her to consider these issues.
Special thanks go to State Senator Tom Duane and City Councilmember Rosie Mendez for also pushing the City to include these vulnerable blocks in the East Village rezoning.
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
July 14, 2006
*CITY RELEASES DRAFT EAST VILLAGE/LOWER EAST SIDE REZONING PLAN;
Plan has many good features, but exclusion of 3rd & 4th Avenues is troubling
Draft East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning Plan Released: On July 10th, the City presented its draft rezoning plan for the East Village and Lower East Side to the public (for details on the draft plan, CLICK HERE and HERE). The plan comes out of months of discussions with the City by Community Board #3, Councilmember Mendez, GVSHP, the East Village Community Coalition, and other community groups and members of the public. The draft plan follows many of our recommendations to lower allowable building heights, maintain the predominant consistent built form of the neighborhood, and end the preferential treatment currently afforded to dorm, hotel, and other commercial and community facility development, allowing them to build larger than all other types of development. It also includes an “inclusionary zoning” provision which gives a bonus to developers for the creation of new affordable housing or preservation of existing affordable housing.
However, in spite of intense lobbying by GVSHP (CLICK HERE), CB 3, Councilmember Mendez, State Senator Tom Duane, the St. Ann’s Committee, and literally hundreds of area residents, the City continues to refuse to include the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks to the west in the rezoning plan. This is a particularly egregious oversight because the zoning for this area encourages especially large and out-of-character development, as exemplified by NYU’s planned 26-story mega-dorm for the area. Additionally, there are several “soft sites” that are likely to see development in the near future, and NYU has identified this area as one where it expects to focus continued growth in the future.
GVSHP has written to the City expressing its disappointment with the lack of inclusion of this area in the rezoning, and urged the City to amend its draft plan to include these blocks. The plan will be re-presented to the public in September at the Community Board #3 197A Task Force meeting, where these and other critical outstanding issues regarding the proposed rezoning will be discussed (check the CB 3 schedule HERE).
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
May 25, 2006
*GVSHP and COMMUNITY BOARD #3 URGE CITY TO INCLUDE 3rd AVENUE CORRIDOR in EAST VILLAGE REZONING CURRENTLY UNDER CONSIDERATION
GVSHP and Community Board #3 Urge City to Include 3rd Avenue Corridor in East Village Rezoning: On Tuesday Community Board #3 unanimously passed a resolution put forward by GVSHP calling upon the Department of City Planning to include the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks directly to the west in a rezoning of the East Village currently under discussion. Community Board #3, local elected officials such as Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Borough President Scott Stringer, GVSHP and other community groups have been working with City Planning to put forward a rezoning proposal for the area. The rezoning would preserve the scale, character, and affordable housing stock of the East Village, and prevent inappropriate and out-of-scale development. However, City Planning has been resistant to including the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks to the west in the rezoning, though these are some of the most vulnerable blocks in the entire neighborhood. Current zoning for the area allows massively out-of-scale dormitory and hotel development such as the planned 26-story NYU dorm on East 12th Street. GVSHP feels strongly that these blocks should be included in a rezoning of the East Village, and has lobbied City Planning to do so (CLICK HERE for more information).
Earlier this month, GVSHP presented Community Board #3’s Rezoning Task Force with a proposal for rezoning the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks immediately to the west. The proposal would use contextual zoning to reduce the size and height of allowable new development in this area, and would eliminate the current zoning incentive for out-of-scale dormitory and hotel development. The Task Force unanimously approved these recommendations, which were then approved by the full Community Board and sent on to the City Planning Commission.
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
