City Planning Commission Meeting

From New Yorkers for a Human Scale City

One Last Chance to Defeat the Up-zonings: Mark Your Calendars

• The City Planning Commission is having a meeting on February 3 at 10:00 a.m. at 22 Reade Street.  Members of the public are not allowed to speak but they can watch the commission take its own, internal vote on the much-hated city-wide zoning proposals.  These proposals are widely seen as a “give-away to developers”.  Here is the background: window-dressing changes have been made to the proposals called “ZQA” and “MIH” – changes meant to acknowledge the fact that the overwhelming majority of community boards voted against these proposals. The changes don’t change much but give cover for the politicians in the City Council to claim, in Orwellian-speak that they have managed to turn a terrible idea into a “reasonable” one.  The vote might be painful to watch if you have even a iota of idealism left in you. After the vote, the proposals march on relentlessly to City Hall.  See the bullet point below.

• Come one, come all!  Turn out February 9th, 9:30 a.m., at City Hall itself, for the City Council hearing on the hated up-zonings. Take the day off work.  Let the City Council know, in person, with two-minute testimony, what you think. Councilmember David Greenfield will be presiding and texting the whole time to show his contempt for those who disagree with the Mayor on this.  That was his M.O. over the hearings on another bill (775 that affected the Landmarks Preservation Commission) so be prepared to watch him noodling on his cell phone while you testify.  But don’t be afraid. He is just a City Council member.  They come and go, remember, voted in and out by you, the public.  Wondering what to say to the City Council?  Try this:  we are tired of the destruction of neighborhoods, the whole process is flawed, and that we will not re-elect those who are selling out the future of New York to benefit a bunch of big real estate developers.  We want politicians who will help us fight for a build-out a human-scale city that respects our historic fabric.

• Can’t come to a hearing?  Send a letter to all the politicians in a single click using this tool here.  And don’t forget to sign the petition here.