Rezoning Enhances the Changes Already Coming to Manhattan's Northern End

Tom Acitelli reports from the neighborhood of Inwood in Manhattan, where planners recently completed a rezoning in line with other processes completed during the tenure of the de Blasio administration.

"The neighborhood at Manhattan's northernmost tip is often described as the borough's last truly affordable one. Fears that the rezoning—part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's pledge to create or preserve 300,000 affordable-housing units by 2026—would spur market-rate development and thus displace longtime residents had dogged the proposal," according to Acitelli.

And, yes, the Inwood rezoning was controversial, like other rezonings in recent years: "When the bill finally passed Aug. 8, demonstrators inside City Hall tossed Monopoly money at legislators."

According to one main point of the article, however, Inwood has seen an influx of development investment in recent years, so the rezoning is the only the latest of changes coming to the neighborhood. With the rezoning, that development will occur with the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules in place, and with plans to add 1,600 affordable units on city-owned site. Substantial public investments are also included: "Two new waterfront parks—plus better connectivity between the neighborhood and its waterways—and several safety upgrades for streets are baked in the plan."