News
Minority Report: What Opponents Of Midtown East Rezoning Say
March 3, 2013
The commercial real estate community has said plenty in support of upzoning Midtown East (it's in their blood; ever won at Monopoly without building on your properties?). After the Department of City Planning presented a revised zoning proposal last week, we found the naysayers' perspective worth sharing. Here's what some of our readers had to say:
- "I really worry about a lack of air and light in Midtown. ... The city tends to zone in wide swaths, and it would be a shame to lose some of the really old little buildings on Second Avenue."
- "Why would we limit our ability to compete (with international cities) to just that area? If a great tenant wanted to move into our city... wouldn't we be a more compelling city if the tenant could choose what neighborhood they wanted to work in?"
- "[The] market does not need it to proceed. Also, Madison Avenue is too narrow."
- "It's too crowded as it is. Midtown East as it is now has charm and solidity. ... It also has a certain kind of old world aura, which is totally modern."
