http://www.planNYC.org/ PlanNYC | New York City Planning Information Portal en-us ja3n@earthlink.net http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4165 Though the City Council is expected to vote to approve the 125th Street Corridor rezoning proposal today, a coalition of opponents has planned another protest outside the Council’s legislative building. The protesters are not satisfied by the modified plan that lowered building heights, increased affordable housing and provided loans for displaced businesses that the three local Council Members agreed to. The Coalition argues that most local businesses are still vulnerable and that the rezoning will turn 125th Street into a “luxury housing development.” 2008-04-30 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4171 The City Council voted to rezone Harlem’s 125th Street district on Wednesday. Despite vocal opposition from Harlem residents, the plan passed 47-2. In an attempt to address opponents’ concerns, the City has pledged to devote resources to the neighborhood, including providing assistance to local businesses and reserving 46 percent of new housing as affordable. Mayor Bloomberg said that the rezoning will generate over 7,000 jobs. 2008-04-30 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4135 Vornado Realty Trust is in negotiations with Macy’s to open a new store in the developer’s office complex at Harlem Park on 125th Street. Macy’s space will be dependent on the size of Major League Baseball’s lease in the same building. Macy’s is one of several large department stores and other retail outlets looking for locations along the 125th Street Corridor in the wake of the proposed rezoning, which is likely to pass the City Council. 2008-04-22 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4100 The plan to rezone the 125th Street Corridor in Harlem was passed out of the City Council’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee with a 10-1 vote yesterday, including approvals by the area’s three Council members. The agreement, reached at the last minute between many elected officials and the City Planning Commission, virtually assures its approval in the wider Council vote later this month. The modified plan includes greatly reduced heights (from 29 to 19 stories), a loan program for displaced business owners, improvements to Marcus Garvey Park and a significantly larger number of affordable housing units available to lower-income families than was originally promised. Some advocacy groups remained opposed to the plan and the manner in which the agreement was reached. 2008-04-16 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4103 The Victoria Theater, located next door to the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, has been closed for over 10 years. Danforth Development Partners has plans to transform the space into a condo/hotel, while dividing the large theater into two performance spaces that will be available for local community arts groups. Neighborhood activists are fighting to keep the historic theater as it is and restore it to its former grandeur. Danforth says that the current theater is so large that it is not economically feasible to maintain it in its current state. 2008-04-16 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4094 A diverse group of about 100 protestors came together on Saturday to rally against the city’s plan to rezone 125th Street. Some protestors pointed out that the city was pushing the rezoning on the people of Harlem as was done in the Columbia expansion plans, dislocating the community. One activist said that 50% of the new housing should be made affordable. The rally also turned into a venue for various other concerns. 2008-04-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4088 Harlem residents planned to protest the 125th Street rezoning on Saturday by forming a human chain along 125th Street. The protest is one of several last-ditch efforts to halt the plan, which could go to vote in the City Council as early as Wednesday, April 16. The human chain protest was organized by Coalition to Save Harlem, one of the major opponents of the rezoning. Another group called Voices of the Everyday People are circulating a petition, trying to gather signatures of at least 20% of nearby property owners. According to the city charter, if they can accomplish their goal, the rezoning will require a supermajority vote in the Council in order to pass. 2008-04-11 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4012 Voices of the Everyday People, a small group of young people that oppose the rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem, is using a clause that they found in the City Charter in an attempt to stop the City's rezoning efforts. The clause essentially says that if a 20% of the property owners in the rezoning area, adjacent to the rezoning area or opposite the rezoning disapprove of the plan, the City Council must pass the plan by a 3/4th vote. The group is focusing on property owners in the adjacent area to the rezoning and is hopeful to gain enough signatures by the April 9th deadline to trigger the need for a 3/4th vote in the Council. 2008-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4013 A City Council subcommittee is holding a hearing on the 125th Street rezoning today. Affordable housing and height limits are expected to be the main topics at the hearing. Councilmember Tony Avella, who chairs the subcommittee, is opposed to the current plan. Two Harlem councilmembers have also expressed some concerns with the plans. The City Council has until April 30th to act on the rezoning plans, according the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). 2008-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4022 Council Member Inez E. Dickens, whose district encompasses the area that will be affected by the proposed rezoning of 125th Street, has announced that she will not approve the plan as it currently stands, but is willing to negotiate with the City Planning Commission (CPC) and other groups for greater benefits for the community. She noted concerns about overdevelopment, local business displacement and gentrification. Dickens’ support is crucial, because the Council traditionally votes on rezonings with the member who represents the district in which the rezoning is proposed. The CPC reiterated that the rezoning came out of a “carefully crafted” plan. 2008-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4025 At a City Council hearing on the rezoning of 125th Street, some opponents of the plan urged the City Council to protect local businesses from chain stores that are likely to be enticed to the area. Another concern is loss of jobs from the rezoning. The Municipal Art Society testified that 71 local businesses employing almost 975 people could be at risk of shutting down if the plan goes through as is. 2008-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4006 Following the City Planning Commission’s approval of the rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem earlier this month, a town hall meeting on Saturday revealed area residents’ continuing concerns. Several hundred opposed to the plan attended the forum 2008-03-29 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#4093 Proponents of the plan, some of whom think the plan should have gone even further, believe that the rezoning will help revitalize the area, bring in much needed jobs, and promote the cultural identity of the neighborhood. Opponents, however, are worried that it will speed gentrification and price out long time residents. They are also concerned that the luxury housing planned for the area will irreversibly change the character of the corridor. 2008-03-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#3902 The Mayor’s office has granted Vornado RealtyTrust an exemption from the new height restrictions to be put into place on 125th Street for its new office tower in Harlem Park. The City Council is expected to approve the exemption. In order to gain its approval, the developer worked with Community Board 11 to create a community benefits agreement totaling over $1 million in concessions. The benefits include maintenance and capital costs of playing fields and parks, streetscape improvements and a community hiring program. 2008-03-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=21#3903 Critics of the city’s plan for rezoning the 125th Street Corridor in Harlem loudly denounced the City Planning Commission (CPC) as it approved the plan on Monday. Opponents of the plan claimed that it was designed to destroy the neighborhood, push out local businesses and build housing for middle class whites. The CPC spent four years developing the plan to create a mixed-use, mixed-incentive area. The City Council must vote on the plan 2008-03-11 00:00:00