The Conservancy spoke at a Midtown rally on June 18th opposing a City plan to upzone the Garment District and sections of two historic districts. The plan would allow housing in these areas, but it would also encourage demolition of historic buildings, threaten the character of the historic districts, and jeopardize jobs in the Garment District by substantially raising the allowable FAR (Floor Area Ratio) size of new buildings.
The rally was held as the City Planning Commission voted to pass the Midtown South-Mixed Use proposal, ignoring all requests to improve the proposal. The fight to protect the buildings and jobs in this area now goes to the City Council, which is set to hear the proposal on July 1. You can read more about the rally here.
“The City Planning Commission and City Council should listen to the public and revise this plan. There is no need to choose among jobs, housing, or protecting our city’s architectural heritage: with thoughtful planning, we can have it all.”– Joe Rose, former chair of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the Department of City Planning
Instead of a substantive consideration of critiques that surfaced in the public review process, the City Planning Commission has rebuffed criticism and not agreed to make any changes to the Midtown South Mixed Use plan as proposed.
This is a one-size-fits-all zoning proposal that does not take into consideration the different urban fabric of the four distinct quadrants in the rezoning area.
It will lead to increased demolitions of existing historic buildings, loss of thousands of Garment District businesses and jobs, construction of enormous buildings, and the loss of millions of dollars of value in existing development rights owned by landmarked properties.
We jointly call for at least four major changes to the Midtown South Mixed Use plan (MSMX) as proposed.
- We support allowing residential development as of right in the MSMX rezoning area. However, the proposed Residential Floor Area Ratio (FAR) must be lowered to respect the built environment, encourage adaptive reuse, and not incentivize the wholesale removal of existing businesses and manufacturing.
- We need to respect the character of the existing historic districts within the proposed area. This can be done by maintaining the development rights of landmark sites and not increasing FAR to a point where these rights become worthless. Many landmarks such as houses of worship need development rights to be able to maintain and restore their buildings in perpetuity.
- We need more incentives to support adaptive reuse of existing historic buildings instead of encouraging assemblages of large parcels and demolition of multiple buildings and blocks. This would cause irreparable damage to our neighborhood and leave vacant lots for years to come.
- We need strategies to keep the existing manufacturing and light industrial jobs and businesses in the MSMX area, especially in the iconic Garment District. Read more about needed incentives here.
Join us in calling for change! We need to preserve Midtown South and its irreplaceable character and existing businesses, while also making sure we are planning for the next generation.