Update on Tech Hub and Protecting Area Between Union Square and Astor Place

On Wednesday we had an overflow crowd at the Community Board #3 presentation on the City’s plans for the new Tech Hub on 14th Street.  More than a hundred of you showed up to send the message that no approvals should be granted for the Mayor’s Tech Hub plan UNLESS they are accompanied by the protections for the surrounding Village and East Village neighborhood we have been calling for (pictures here). 

The rezoning proposal to allow the Mayor’s Tech Hub is expected to be released later this month, kicking off a 6-month process of hearings and votes by the Community Board, Borough President, City Planning Commission, and ultimately the City Council, which will decide if the plan is approved or not.  Once those have been scheduled, we will let you know, and we will need you there!  

The area from University Place to 3rd Avenue, Union Square to Astor Place, is facing a flood of oversized and out-of-character development right now, partially fueled by the expansion of the tech industry’s ‘Silicon Alley’ into the area.  Mayor de Blasio refuses to put appropriate protections and limits in place to address this problem, and his Tech Hub will only accelerate this trend.  But City Councilmember Carlina Rivera can tell the Mayor (as she promised to during her campaign) that the only way she and the City Council will vote for his Tech Hub is if he approves the neighborhood protections we have been demanding.  We need to work with her to ensure this happens.

To help: