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Long-delayed North Brooklyn rezoning plan hits another roadblock

Antonio Reynoso says the proposal doesn't contain enough restrictions for non-manufacturing uses

A map of rezoning area in North Brooklyn and Council Member Antonio Reynoso
A map of rezoning area in North Brooklyn and Council Member Antonio Reynoso

The city revived plans to rezone an industrial stretch of North Brooklyn last fall, when it published a plan for the rezoning two years behind schedule. But those plans could already be dead once again.

City Council Member Antonio Reynoso, who represents part of the Industrial Business Zone stretching from Greenpoint to Bushwick along Newtown Creek, has come out against the plan, saying that it doesn’t contain enough restrictions for non-manufacturing uses whose expansion would threaten the area’s industrial businesses, Politico reported.

“At this point, this plan is dead in the water… long term, this plan does more damage than good,” Reynoso told Politico. “Right now, where we’re at — I’m not even having conversations with DCP; we cut off communication.”

The rezoning is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 10-point plan to protect manufacturing zones in the city, announced three years ago. The North Brooklyn plan is intended as model for similar changes in the city’s 20 other industrial business zones.

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In recent years, the city has imposed restrictions on self-storage and hotel development in manufacturing zones as part of the 10-point plan. The North Brooklyn rezoning would add nightclubs and concert venues to the list of restricted uses, while allowing higher-density development in some areas.

Industrial preservation advocates say that stronger use limitations are needed to keep manufacturing businesses from being displaced by more profitable uses.

“There is an established real estate reality, that residential is more lucrative than commercial and commercial is more valuable than industrial,” Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen, a senior economic development organizer at the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, told Politico.

“We have a fundamental philosophical disagreement with DCP,” Reynoso’s legislative and land use director Asher Freeman said. “They zone to what the market wants, we’re trying to zone to what we want to see.” [Politico] — Kevin Sun

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BrooklynPoliticsRezoning