De Blasio's Rezoning Proposal Meets Skepticism
Community leaders are not happy about the De Blasio administration's citywide rezoning proposal, with some saying it will "dismantle existing contextual zoning protections" in neighborhoods throughout the city. So, city planning czar Carl Weisbrod has extended the comment period in April and wrote a letter explaining the purpose of the proposal. The Bloomberg administration strengthened contextual zoning protections to prevent out-of-scale development, Crain's New York reports. This way you wouldn't have two buildings of completely different heights next to either. This boosted property values in some areas, but sent rents climbing faster than lower and middle income wages could keep up. The idea behind this proposal is to rectify that, but it may be overcorrecting, making it more difficult for architects, and possibly affecting the quality of the housing. A formal review process could begin in September. [CNY]
