Added public space that was part of the 2004 Hunts Point Vision Plan. Public feedback is now being requested to update the plan. Image Credit: NYCEDC

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) selected a team at the Pratt Center for Community Development to facilitate community outreach for a plan to redevelop Hunts Point. Starting this spring, NYCEDC and the Pratt Center for Community Development will host public workshops and meetings for the Hunts Point community as part of its engagement plan. Over the next 18 months, residents and businesses will share their opinions on the current state of Hunts Point and where they want improvements, which will help to inform City investments in parks, street safety, pollution reduction and job opportunities. The Pratt Center has 30 years of experience working in the South Bronx, facilitating workshops with local stakeholders to identify community needs including affordable housing, commercial corridors infrastructure, public health and environmental sustainability. (read more…)

Image Credit: NYCEDC and WXY Architecture & Urban Design

The Vision Document represents the first effort by the City and the Brooklyn community to solely focus on Broadway Junction. On August 15, 2019, Council Member Rafael L. Espinal, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) commissioned a Vision Document, Broadway Junction: Vision for the Future that serves as a guide to supporting the transformation of Broadway Junction in Brooklyn. The Vision Document is the first step towards transforming and reinvigorating the area’s transit hub and economic center.

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Proposed rezoning of the Water Street POPS. Image credit: Department of City Planning

The modified version requires a full public review process in order to infill the largest arcades covered by the proposed zoning text amendment. On June 15, 2016, the City Council Committee on Land Use voted unanimously to approve a modified version of an application submitted by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Department of City Planning to rezone the privately owned public space—colloquially known as “POPS”—on and surrounding Water Street, located on the east side of lower Manhattan. The modified proposal requires the Alliance for Downtown New York to commit to providing programming on the public plazas, re-instates public review as a requirement to infill the larger buildings affected by the rezoning, and places further restrictions on the infill of the arcades.

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Proposed rezoning of the Water Street POPS. Image credit: Department of City Planning

Council Members voiced concerns over the proposal’s provisions stripping the City Council of its review over future applications brought pursuant to the proposal. On May 4, 2016, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on an application submitted by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Department of City Planning to amend the zoning text controlling the Water Street corridor in lower Manhattan. For CityLand’s previous coverage on the proposed rezoning of the Water Street POPS, click here.

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The boundary lines of the proposed Greater JFK IBID. Image credit: Urbanomics/BFJ Planning

The proposed IBID’s geographic boundaries do not include the JFK airport itself, which ensures it would serve the needs of the surrounding off-airport community. On April 13, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the New York City Department of Small Business Services’ application to create the Greater JFK Industrial Business Improvement District, or IBID, located in Springfield Gardens, Queens. Though the proposed IBID would be the largest IBID in the City, it purposefully does not include within its boundaries the John F. Kennedy International Airport itself, which would ensure the needs of the off-airport community at-large remain the focus of the IBID’s efforts.

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Proposed rezoning of the Water Street POPS. Image credit: Department of City Planning

The proposed zoning text amendment would facilitate the replacement of sheltered outdoor space with commercial storefronts. On March 30th, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application submitted by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the Department of City Planning to amend the zoning text regulating Manhattan Community District 1’s Special Lower Manhattan District, which includes property sites located within the area bounded by Pearl Street and South William Street to the west, South Street to the east, Fulton Street to the north, and Whitehall Street to the south.  The rezoning seeks to activate the neighborhood by filling empty, outdoor space with retail units.

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