City Planning Approves Hudson Sq. Rezoning; Only City Council Can Save the South Village
 As expected, the City Planning Commission today voted to approve the proposed Hudson Square rezoning without any landmark protections for the South Village, sending it to the City Council. The City Council now has fifty days to hold a public hearing and decide whether or not to approve the application, placing the fate of the endangered, historic South Village squarely in their hands.
If enacted as is, the Hudson Square rezoning is expected to increase development pressure upon the adjacent South Village. Not only do GVSHP and other community groups believe this; the City’s own environmental review for the Hudson Square rezoning found that the proposed South Village Historic District would suffer a “significant adverse impact” from the rezoning. The City also admitted that the South Village is “landmark-eligible,” and yet has still refused to move ahead with landmark designation, as they promised to in 2009. Several historic sites in the South Village have been demolished or slated for demolition in recent years to make way for out-of-scale new development.
This means the City Council, and most especially Speaker Christine Quinn in whose district it is located, will decide the fate of the South Village. GVSHP and other community groups have urged the Speaker to use her considerable leverage to get the City to keep its promise and finally landmark the South Village, and if they refuse to do so, not approve the Hudson Square rezoning which would accelerate the South Village’s destruction.  Community Board #2, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and former State Senator Tom Duane also called for the rezoning to be rejected if landmark protections are not offered to the South Village.
HOW TO HELP:
Find out more about the South Village HERE and the Hudson Square rezoning HERE. Support GVSHP’s preservation efforts HERE.
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