The Inwood rezoning is now one step closer to reality.
The City Council’s subcommittee on zoning and franchises voted Thursday to approve the rezoning proposal for the neighborhood, according to Crain’s. However, at the request of local Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, it will now exclude a central 59-block portion of the neighborhood. It also abandons the portion of the plan calling for a U-shaped corridor along Broadway, West 207th Street and Dyckman Street that had been dubbed the “Commercial-u.”
“I have carefully listened to the residents, and to the local business owners,” Rodriguez told Crain’s. “I heard loud and clear that the rezoning was too large.”
The city will invest $500 million into the neighborhood and $50 million into George Washington Heights High School. Two city-owned land parcels will be reserved for a completely affordable development and any new projects along the Harlem River will be required to provide public access to the waterfront.
The plan aims to bring 5,000 units of housing to the neighborhood.
Other rezonings that the City Council has passed under the de Blasio administration include Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, East Harlem in Manhattan, Far Rockaway in Queens and East New York in Brooklyn. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small