On the eve of his first meeting as chair of the City Council’s Land Use Committee, southeast Queens Council member Leroy Comrie spoke with The Real Deal about how he will judge success, whether he has laid out specific goals and which upcoming land use projects could be the most controversial.
Comrie was voted in as chairman last Thursday and is scheduled to call his first committee meeting to order today at 10 a.m. with three rezonings and 11 landmarkings to consider.
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The City Council land use committee today voted 13-2 in favor of the Bloomberg administration’s Coney Island redevelopment plan. The plan calls for vacant amusement lots to be rezoned for residential development and would allow hotels and retail space in the central amusement district. The full City Council is slated to vote on the rezoning next Wednesday, but some hurdles remain, including the city’s negotiations with Coney Island landowner Joseph Sitt and a building employees’ union that is asking for wage guarantees. Council members are expected to follow the lead of member Domenic Recchia, who has asked the city to promise to renovate Coney Island Hospital’s emergency room, among other projects, in exchange for his support. [NYO] and [Crain's] [more]