Hudson Square rezoning goes to City Council

A City Council hearing on a rezoning of Hudson Square that would make way for new residential development will take place Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

What has traditionally been a bustling district during the day but a sleepy one after work hours would stand to be rejuvenated by the rezoning. Trinity Real Estate, the area’s largest landlord, intends to build new apartments in the area. The rezoning was approved by the City Planning Commission last month.

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A smattering of new businesses have opened in the last two years, including a children’s museum on Charlton Street and a Hale & Hearty Soups franchise on Hudson Square. Hudson Square Connection, the area’s business improvement district, is designing a five-year plan to improve the neighborhood’s upkeep. But local businesses needed to be buttressed by a residential development, Hudson Square Connection’s president Ellen Baer told the Journal. “Because we don’t have a 24/7 population, it’s very difficult to get enough retail here,” Baer said. “We just got a drugstore but we don’t have a supermarket.” She added that it was unusual for a Manhattan area to have so many workers “with so few residents.” [WSJ]Hiten Samtani