> Back to Policy Demand: Inclusionary Zoning

The New York Sun
First Hearing is Held for Hudson Yards Proposal

by Julie Satow, September 24, 2004

The City Planning Commission held its first public hearing yesterday on The proposal for the Hudson Yards redevelopment, providing community groups, civic organizations, elected officials, and planning professionals an opportunity to address the commission on the contentious plan. Sitting on a dais at the Fashion Institute of Technology facing an audience of as many as 700 people, the 13 commissioners, including Chairwoman Amanda Burden, sat through all-day testimony from more than 150 speakers. At issue is the use of the 360 acres - 59 city blocks - sitting between West 28th Street and 43rd Street and Seventh and Eighth avenues to the Hudson River. The proposal calls for an expanded Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the expansion of the no. 7 subway line, the creation of a stadium for the Jets, and commercial and residential development.

The commission has 60 days to incorporate public comments and create a Final plan; a vote on the revised plan is expected on November 22. The Resulting plan, known as the final environmental impact statement, will then transfer to the City Council, which will have 50 days to act on it. The Manhattan borough board and community boards 4 and 5 have already voted on the plan and suggested a number of changes, such as reducing commercial development to 25 million square feet from 28 million, the inclusion of an affordable housing component, and construction of "green" buildings. Manhattan's borough president, C. Virginia Fields, also called for representatives from her office and community boards 4 and 5 to have roles in the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation, which is overseeing the plan.

Each hour of testimony yesterday was evenly split for supporters and detractors. The latter focused mainly on the need for affordable housing, while supporters concentrated on new job creation. "We unequivocally oppose any zoning resolution that does not include a requirement for a significant number of affordable housing units," said the associate director of Tenants & Neighbors Coalition, Michael McKee. "Our primary concern is that the Hudson Yards rezoning lacks a real affordable housing plan," an analyst at the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development, Marnie McGregor, said. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried testified that the plan "has major problems, including excessive commercial development, a harmful environmental impact, and the extension of the 7 subway, which will compete with the Second Avenue subway." He later tried to hold an impromptu press conference outside the auditorium doors, but was repeatedly interrupted with screams of "Jobs!" and "Affordable housing!" The effort soon disintegrated into chaos.

One of the supporters of the city's plan, the director of governmental And legislative affairs for the Mason Tenders' District Council Political Action Committee, Michael McGuire, said it "will create more than 110,000 new permanent private sector jobs in the Hudson Yards area and 90,000 indirect private sector jobs elsewhere." He added that by 2025, the redevelopment will produce more than $13 billion in private investment and more than $2 billion in city and state revenue.

"This project will take away an eyesore and bring my members into the area to make investments," said Steven Spinola, the president of the developers'lobbying group, the Real Estate Board of New York. A representative for Local 79, Anthony Williamson, who heckled Mr. Gottfried during his press conference, said he supports the Hudson Yards plan because "it will bring development into the area and create real jobs with benefits." The head of the Department of City Planning's Manhattan Office, Vishaan Chakrabarti, said the department has already considered many of the community concerns raised during the Hudson Yards planning process. While he will be leaving his post at City Planning to return to Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, where he worked before joining the public sector, Mr. Chakrabarti said he will see the Hudson Yards project through to completion.

- top of page -