More Details of East New York Rezoning Revealed: 6,970 New Units Planned

City Planning Tuesday revealed more details of the mayor’s plan to rezone East New York and Ocean Hill in two environmental impact statement documents. By changing commercial-only zones to mixed-use and allowing slightly taller and denser buildings than what is there today, as well as making investments in the area such as streetscape improvements, the rezoning could bring new life and retail to the area and improve public safety.

We were pleasantly surprised to read the details of the plans, because they sound as if they will work. However, still missing is a crucial detail: We still don’t know the percentage of affordable units — and the plan could be put into action as soon as April!

As we and others have said, mixed-income buildings could have the unintended consequence of pushing up rents in the general area, both because the “market rate” units will be high for the area and because most of the “affordable” units will also be beyond the reach of most current residents. The more “affordable” a development is, the less likely it is to spur gentrification. Many new developments in the area for years have been 100 percent affordable (that is, subsidized), such as the Nehemiah houses, Spring Creek, and Gateway Elton II.

Some details of the plan: The city expects the rezoning will over 15 years create 6,970 new dwelling units, 902,145 square feet of commercial space, and 27,082 square feet of manufacturing space, while decreasing auto, warehouse, storage, and garage space in the targeted areas. That’s vs. an expected 550 units of housing with no rezoning. The commercial-only, low-rise corridors of Pitkin, Fulton and Atlantic are currently underutilized, with lots of vacant store fronts, and many of these are being used illegally as residences. These would be rezoned for residential, with Pitkin and Fulton going from low-rise to medium-rise. The city will invest in streetscape improvements, parks, playgrounds, and new community centers.

Here’s how it would work, according to the documents:

Increased residential density will reinforce demand for a greater variety of local retail services such as grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, and restaurants, supporting the growth of existing and new businesses…Updating the zoning to allow residential uses would facilitate the construction of new housing and mixed‐use development. Allowing higher residential density and a variety of job‐generating uses on these sites would help bring a critical mass of residents to support a greater diversity of retail offerings and activate streetscapes and public spaces. In this way, Atlantic Avenue could transform into an urban boulevard offering a diversity of housing options, shopping, entertainment, jobs and services to the surrounding neighborhood as well as drawing visitors from the broader region…With increased residential density, the neighborhood will see increased demand for more local services such as grocery stores, banks, and restaurants, supporting existing and new businesses while creating local job opportunities. City incentives for the development of grocery stores selling fresh food could be utilized to add to the neighborhood’s healthy food options. The additional density proposed would create support for new and existing businesses, which would support the creation or expansion of Business Improvement Districts and/or merchants associations to further support retail growth along the major corridors.

As for the affordable units, the documents say over and over that the goal of the rezoning is to preserve affordability in the area. The documents did reveal that all developers building residential units in the rezoned areas will be required to include affordable units, regardless of whether they take advantage of the new height and density allowances. We just don’t know what the mix will be.

New York YIMBY was the first to write about the two documents, in a story last week.

East New York Rezoning Proposal Draft Scope of Work [City Planning]
East New York Rezoning Proposal Environmental Assessment Statement [City Planning]
City Planning Unveils Full East New York Rezoning Details [NYY]
Opinion: Can New York Be Affordable Again? [NYT]
“Progressive” Gentrification: One Community’s Struggle Against Affordable Housing [Truthout]
Map by City Planning