Advocacy groups defend LES rezoning plan

Several organizations, including Asian-American and Latino housing advocacy groups, are defending the Lower East Side rezoning and say that charges that it is racist are baseless. A Latino housing advocacy director said that nearly half of the residents in the area slated for rezoning are Asian-American or Latino, so the rezoning plan does not exclude them. The area being rezoned is bounded by East 13th Street to the north, Avenue D to the east, Grand and Delancey Streets to the south, and Third Avenue and the Bowery to the west. The Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side wants Chinatown added to the rezoning plan.