SAMPLE CITY COUNCIL TESTIMONY
I strongly urge the City Council not to approve the proposed Hudson Square rezoning unless landmark protections are granted to the neighboring historic and endangered South Village, and the proposed height and bulk limits for new construction in Hudson Square are reduced.
Development pressure will increase and the destruction of the adjacent proposed South Village Historic District will be greatly accelerated if the Hudson Square rezoning is approved without landmark protections for the South Village. This is not just what neighbors say or common sense tells you – the City’s own environmental analysis of the rezoning’s effects said that the South Village was “landmark-eligible” but would suffer a “significant adverse impact” if the rezoning passes without landmark protections. If the City will not landmark the South Village now, do not approve this rezoning and hasten the South Village’s destruction.
Additionally, the proposed height and bulk limits for new development in Hudson Square is more appropriate for Midtown, and should be reduced. Most buildings in Hudson Square are no more than 200 feet tall, and thus the 210 foot height limit proposed by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is much more reasonable. The current proposed bulk limits are also too great for the area and will only increase traffic problems and other burdens upon infrastructure; they should be reduced by 25%.
Please help preserve the South Village and do not “midtown” Hudson Square. Do not vote to approve this rezoning unless the South Village gets the landmark protections it needs and the Hudson Square height and bulk limits are brought down.
Thank you.
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