Councilmember Daniel Garodnick delivers the keynote address of the East Midtown Rezoning panel. Image credit: Manhattan Chamber of Commerce

The Councilmember spoke to early details of what’s next after the Vanderbilt Corridor.  On July 16, 2015 City Councilmember Daniel Garodnick delivered the keynote address at the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce’s panel discussion on the East Midtown Rezoning.  (See CityLand’s complete video of the event here.)

In his remarks, Councilmember Garodnick discussed the history to date of the East Midtown rezoning, including the failed first attempt under former Mayor Bloomberg and the recently-completed Vanderbilt Corridor.  The Councilmember then said the remainder of East Midtown between East 39th and East 57th streets – referred to as “Phase Two” – would be rezoned along the same principles as Vanderbilt, allowing larger developments near transit locations with increased density earned by improvements to area infrastructure.  Phase Two will also allow a broader transfer of air rights from area landmarks; landmarked buildings in East Midtown will now be allowed to sell their unused air rights to developers building anywhere in East Midtown.  Currently, landmarked buildings may only sell their air rights to developers who are building on sites adjacent to the landmark in question.  In exchange for this relaxation of transfer regulations, the City will receive a percentage of the sale to be put towards public improvements.

Councilmember Garodnick promoted the strategy as a win for both private development and the public at large, arguing increased access to the air rights market allows developers to build bigger while landmarked building owners have more opportunities to sell their rights and raise money for supporting their renovation plans.  The public would benefit, stated Garodnick, from the area improvements funded by the City’s cut of each rights sale and the further preservation of historic resources.  Said the councilmember, “It’s my hope we can revitalize [East] Midtown both by unlocking development potential here and bringing the transit system in the area into the 21st century.  A world-class business district deserves both of these.”

The East Midtown Steering Committee, co-chaired by Garodnick and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, will formally announce the plan before the end of summer.

By:  Michael Twomey (Michael is the CityLaw Fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2014).