ALERT: Third Avenue Rezoning
On Tuesday Community Board #3 unanimously passed a resolution put forward by GVSHP calling upon the Department of City Planning to include the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks directly to the west in a rezoning of the East Village currently under discussion. Community Board #3, local elected officials such as Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Borough President Scott Stringer, GVSHP and other community groups have been working with City Planning to put forward a rezoning proposal for the area. The rezoning would preserve the scale, character, and affordable housing stock of the East Village, and prevent inappropriate and out-of-scale development. However, City Planning has been resistant to including the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks to the west in the rezoning, though these are some of the most vulnerable blocks in the entire neighborhood. Current zoning for the area allows massively out-of-scale dormitory and hotel development such as the planned 26-story NYU dorm on East 12th Street (see www.gvshp.org/NYUdorm.htm). GVSHP feels strongly that these blocks should be included in a rezoning of the East Village, and has lobbied City Planning to do so (see www.gvshp.org/documents/dormBurden.pdf).
Earlier this month, GVSHP presented Community Board #3’s Rezoning Task Force with a proposal for rezoning the 3rd Avenue corridor and the blocks immediately to the west. The proposal would use contextual zoning to reduce the size and height of allowable new development in this area, and would eliminate the current zoning incentive for out-of-scale dormitory and hotel development. The Task Force unanimously approved these recommendations, which were then approved by the full Community Board and sent on to the City Planning Commission.
HOW TO HELP:
· WRITE TO THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION urging them to rezone the 3rd Avenue Corridor and immediately adjacent blocks to stop the mounting tide of inappropriate and out-of-scale development in this area, especially for dormitories and hotels. Go to www.gvshp.org/zonelet.htm for a sample letter you can use and contact information.