Harlem Rezoning Plan Approved, Residents Await

On Tuesday, a key City Council committee agreed on a rezoning plan for Harlem. The Zoning and Franchises Subcommitee voted 10 to 1 on a proposal that includes, the NY Times reports, limiting new building height to 19 stories (originally it was 29), creating a loan program for displaced small businesses, and $5.8 million to improve Marcus Garvey Park.

Additionally, 46% of new housing units will be "income-targeted," to provide more affordable housing--an amount that City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden called "record-breaking." Council Member Inez Dickens, who represents Harlem, said she was satisfied with the compromise, "It is my opinion that all of the components I have worked so hard to secure will honor Harlem's past, claim Harlem's present, and provide for Harlem's bright expansive future." Dickens also mentioned Governor Paterson and Congressman Charles Rangel supported the revised plan.

Commenters at Uptown Flavor had mixed reactions to the plan. Some feel more business and development can help the community--plus the height restrictions help since there never were ones before--but there's skepticism about whether affordable housing isn't just a "trick pony" for developers. And one opponent worried to the Daily News that the plan means "there won't be any black residents in white, rich Harlem."

Photograph of 125th Street by Frants on Flickr

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By Jen Chung in News on April 17, 2008 9:08 AM

Comments [rss]

chris lee

This MYTH that you need blacks to spice up an urban area is just that.

The Edge

starrygordon, you could always move to Paterson, NJ. Or Newark. Or Atlantic City.

Cuz those places are quite "gritty".

Think2wice

Re: #7

Amen.

Nick S

"Why don't you and they move back out there, if you crave safety and sterility so much?"

because new york is where I have to live to achieve the goals I have set out for myself, and I'd rather live in a safe, clean city than a dangerous, dirty one? seems like pretty logical thinking to me.

i really dont know when a city being dangerous became desirable.

Think2wice

This city government is obsessed with propping up the welfare state.

"there won't be any black residents in white, rich Harlem."

Probably weren't any when Harlem was a small town. Perhaps those old townsfolk felt entitled to keep it farmland when blacks began to move into the new brownstones being built.

starrygordon

I don't see turning everything into a mall and a parking lot as progress.

In fact, a lot of gentrification is apparently driven by young adults fleeing the vast wasteland of American suburban life. Unfortunately they're bringing the wasteland with them. Why don't you and they move back out there, if you crave safety and sterility so much?

Nick S

yes, let's resist progress and let criminals run wild in certain neighborhoods.. that'll ensure new york keeps its "gritty" feel.

starrygordon

The plan describes how Harlem will be gentrified. Specifically Black culture will have to carry on elsewhere: like Soho, the Lower East Side, Chelsea, Yorkville, Williamsburg, or any other neighborhood where the rich want to live, Harlem will be turned into a sort of vertical suburb built over a mall at street level just like every other gentrified neighborhood. It won't be "all White"; there are some rich Black people who will be sprinkled among the gentry. But they will be as glitzy, bland, and dumb as the rest. You'll hardly be able to tell them apart.

Nick S

i'm not seeing any rich white people attacking and chasing students into traffic. so, uh, upgrade.

camarilla

"Forty-six percent of the new housing units created under the plan will be income-targeted, using a combination of incentives to builders to provide 'affordable housing' as well as an agreement with the city to create MORE PUBLIC HOUSING UNITS." - NY Sun (emphasis added)

Don't worry, bringing in and permanently rooting even more criminals and juvenile delinquents than we already have up here will prevent it from ever becoming rich and white.