City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises hearing testimony at the August 9th hearing. Image credit: CityLand

The proposal seeks to re-zone two and a half residential blocks from solely residential to mixed-use with ground floor commercial space. On August 9, 2016, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard testimony on an application to re-zone residential space to provide for mixed residential and commercial space for two-and-a-half blocks on the south side of Houston Street, spanning from Norfolk Street to halfway between Clinton Street and Attorney Street, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The City Planning Commission approved the application after holding a hearing on June 8, 2016. For CityLand’s previous coverage on the East Houston Street Rezoning, click here.

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Map of East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Credit: LPC.

Support and opposition to landmarking reiterated at City Council level. On January 31, 2013, the City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to approve the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District in Manhattan. The district includes approximately 325 buildings, and is composed of two distinct sections on each side of First Avenue. On October 9, 2012, Landmarks approved the designation after modifying the boundaries of the proposal initially presented to the Commission. Landmarks found the area significant for its pre-Depression residential architecture and its social history as a home to successive waves of immigrant communities, as well as an epicenter of bohemian life. At Landmarks’ June 26, 2012 public hearing, the vast majority of speakers testified in support of designation, though some local religious institutions opposed, including the Catholic Worker, the St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church, and St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.

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Contextual rezoning established streetwall and building height limits for an eight-block area below Union Square. On October 27, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s rezoning of portions of eight blocks in Manhattan’s East Village. The contextual plan rezoned an area bounded by the south side of East 13th Street, the north side of East 9th Street, Third Avenue, and the east side of Fourth Avenue from C6-1 to C6-2A. The blocks are adjacent to the area rezoned in 2008 by the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning plan. 5 CityLand 165 (Dec. 2008).

The neighborhood is characterized by low- and mid-rise residential and mixed-use buildings with a uniform street wall. A handful of taller and bulkier buildings can be found along Third and Fourth Avenues. The area’s C6-1 zoning, unchanged since 1961, was inconsistent with the built character of the neighborhood and permitted tall and slender tower development, including setback dormitory buildings like those constructed in the neighborhood by New York University and the New School. (more…)

Council approved six-block contextual downzoning to reflect residential uses that predominate historically commercial area. On October 27, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone portions of six blocks in Manhattan’s Far West Village from C6-1 to C1-6A. The contextual downzoning impacted the blocks generally bounded by the east side of Washington Street between West 12th and West 10th Streets and the west side of Greenwich Street between Perry and West 10th Streets. Except for a single lot, all the properties within the rezoning area are located in either the Greenwich Village Historic District or the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension.

The Far West Village was historically characterized by a range of commercial, manufacturing, and residential uses that reflected the neighborhood’s proximity to the Hudson River’s working waterfront. The area is now characterized by residential uses. Three- to five-story apartment buildings with ground floor retail line the eastern side of Washington Street, and warehouse buildings along Perry and Charles Streets have been converted to residential uses. The majority of the buildings in the area are less than 80 feet in height. (more…)

Council approved plan after City agreed to work with interest groups on related zoning and development issues. On November 19, 2008, the City Council approved the City’s plan to rezone 111 blocks in the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan. The plan calls for seven new zoning districts, including a 59-block residential area which would be rezoned to R8B, a category that limits building heights to 75ft. The area is, in general, bounded by East 13th Street, Avenue D, Delancey Street, and Third Avenue. 5 CityLand 123 (Sept. 15, 2008).

Prior to Council review, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve the rezoning after a contentious public hearing. The Commission found that the height, setback, and bulk controls of the new contextual districts would help preserve the low- to mid-rise tenement and rowhouse character of the area. The Commission, contrary to the views of many who spoke in opposition, favored higher density districts along Chrystie Street, Delancey Street, and Avenue D, noting that the districts were located along wide streets well-served by public transit. The Commission dismissed the idea of including Chinatown and the east side of the Bowery in the rezoning, stating that each area had a distinctive character and, as such, each required its own planning analysis. The Commission also rejected the community’s call for anti-harassment provisions to be included in the proposed zoning text, noting that Local Law 7 of 2008 already affords tenants the protection the community had sought. (more…)