3rd & 4th Avenue Corridor Rezoning Hearing Monday June 7
 Community Board 3 will hold a public hearing on the recently-certified 3rd & 4th Avenue corridor rezoning this Monday in its Zoning Committee. That meeting (which has several items on its agenda) begins at 6:30 P.M. at the University Settlement at 184 Eldridge Street at Rivington Street. You are strongly encouraged to attend to find out more about the rezoning or to express your support.
This proposed rezoning covers the blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues and 9th and 13th Streets, and grows out of five years of efforts by GVSHP, neighbors, Community Board #3, and Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who worked collaboratively throughout the process. GVSHP and neighbors pushed to have these blocks included in the East Village Rezoning, which was passed in 2008, but the city refused. These blocks have some of the worst zoning in all the East Village, encouraging large-scale dorm and hotel development, such as NYU’s 26-story mega-dorm on East 12th Street and two other gigantic dorms on Third Avenue.
After several discussions with City Planning, the agency was convinced to propose some, but not all of the changes we sought for the zoning for these blocks. Whereas the current zoning for these blocks has no height caps whatsoever, and gives a bonus for dorm and hotel development or for tall setback towers set behind barren plazas, the new ‘contextual zoning’ proposed imposes a maximum height limit of 120 feet (less than half the height of the NYU 12th Street dorm), eliminates the incentive for dorm and hotel development, and requires new development to meet the streetwall rather than set back from the street behind dead plazas. While we had pushed for a lower zoning envelope, the proposed rezoning is at least an improvement over the current zoning for these blocks.
This will be the first of several public hearings on this proposed rezoning; GVSHP will keep you posted of future hearings and how you can participate.
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