* B R E A K I N G N E W S *
*FAR WEST VILLAGE REZONING PASSED and ENACTED INTO LAW BY CITY COUNCIL
with NO ROLLBACKS
To see the Far West Village rezoning and related information, CLICK HERE and HERE.
REZONING PASSES: In an enormous victory for Far West Village preservation efforts, today the City Council voted OVERWHELMINGLY to enact the Far West Village rezoning plan, which takes effect immediately. No changes or "rollbacks" were made to the rezoning plan, in spite of 11th hour efforts by several developers to weaken the downzoning for their sites.
The rezoning, resulting from proposals submitted by GVSHP and the Greenwich Village Community Task Force in 2004 and a year-long campaign to fight for its passage, will substantially decrease the allowable height and bulk of new development in much of the Far West Village, preventing further out-of-scale high rise construction.
The 4 months from the plan's release in June to passage today is virtually record time. GVSHP and hundreds of supporters pushed hard for the speediest possible approval, and the City Council (taking its lead from Councilmember Quinn, who represents the area and pushed for the earliest possible vote and against any rollbalcks) and the City Planning Commission deserve much credit for responding to the community's call and making this happen.
This swift passage seems likely to stop at least one development-- 393 West 12th Street -- from "beating the clock" and getting in under the older, less restrictive zoning. Other developments in process may be similarly stymied. GVSHP opposed efforts to "roll back" or weaken the rezoning because (among other reasons) changes to the plan would have required delaying today's vote, possibly allowing new developerments to slip in under the wire.
It must also be noted how rare downzonings -- even ones with some carve-outs for developers such as this one -- are in Manhattan. For more information on the provisions of the rezoning plan, CLICK HERE. GVSHP continues to work to scale back the size of proposed developments on "carved out" sites like Superior Ink and Whitehall Storage (CLICK HERE to help with the Superior Ink development).
For more information on the fight to save the Far West Village, CLICK HERE.
To join GVSHP or support its preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
Support for the efforts of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation to preserve the Far West Village comes from our members, the Kaplen Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the generous assistance of City Councilmember Christine Quinn, State Senator Tom Duane, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick.