ANHD 2016 Building the Community Development Movement
Earlier today, the East New York/Cypress Hills Coalition for Community Advancement held a rally and press conference criticizing the Administration’s rezoning plan for their neighborhood, and calling for deeply affordable housing, good local jobs, more schools, and a commitment to preventing displacement. The many local residents, workers, business owners, and community organizations in attendance noted that the plan certified by the Department of City Planning earlier this week failed to address key concerns.
The de Blasio administration has indicated that it is approaching neighborhood planning as just that – comprehensive planning, rather than purely zoning changes designed to encourage or prevent development. That approach is a welcome change from past administrations, where the broader needs and priorities of local communities were often ignored as areas were rezoned.
In East New York, the local community developed its own plan to address the priorities of local residents, business owners, and workers through both zoning and other legal tools. The community plan calls for strong and enforceable anti-displacement measures, new affordable housing targeted to the incomes of the neighborhood, good jobs for local residents, and a mechanism to guarantee funding for the schools and other community facilities that will be needed. Unfortunately, many of these recommendations were excluded from the plan the City is now putting through the 7-month ULURP process.
The final result for East New York remains to be seen. But this is only the first of at least 15 neighborhood rezonings Mayor de Blasio intends to do, and is therefore of deep interest not only to East New York residents, but to communities throughout the city that are engaging in their own campaigns around proposed local rezonings. The gap between the priorities expressed in East New York and the plan that DCP actually certified raises concerns about whether the City’s plans for neighborhoods to come will truly reflect the input and feedback they hear from local communities throughout DCP’s pre-ULURP process.
Blogger: Emily Goldstein
Blog team: Benjamin Dulchin, Lena Afridi, Jonathan Furlong, Moses Gates, Emily Goldstein, Ericka Stallings, Jaime Weisberg, Barika X. Williams. Editor, Anne Troy