Please join us next Wednesday at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing on the proposed hotel special permit requirement for Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square. We have been pushing back on this proposal, which will provide virtually no protections or benefits to our neighborhoods (according to the City’s own analysis, if approved the plan will still result in the demolition of low-rise residential buildings and their replacement with much larger commercial structures – they will just be office buildings instead of hotels!). The Mayor’s campaign donors and supporters are real beneficiaries are of this plan, which does nothing to fulfill promises to protect these neighborhoods in the wake of increased development pressure from the City Council’s approval of the upzoning for the Mayor’s 14th Street Tech Hub last year.

We are instead demanding that the City provide real landmark and zoning protections for these neighborhoods, and that City Councilmember Carlina Rivera fulfill her 2017 campaign pledge to condition her support for the 14th Street Tech Hub upon comprehensive protections for these neighborhoods.

TO HELP:

• Attend and testify at the City Planning Commission public hearing next Wednesday, January 22 at the Lower Concourse Hearing Room of 120 Broadway (Cedar/Pine Streets).  Arrive at approx. 11 am and use this letter as sample testimony.

Tell City Officials the Hotel Special Permit Plan is No Help for Our Neighborhoods, and Demand Real Landmark and Zoning Protections for Greenwich Village and the East Village – CLICK HERE TO SEND LETTER

If approved by the City Planning Commission as expected, the plan then goes to the City Council, where it’s fate will be decided by local Councilmember Carlina Rivera.