After rezoning 37 percent of New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is pursuing one last major rezoning plan before he leaves office. But will a lame duck Council speaker and her colleagues grant the mayor a final victory?
Claims of infrastructure overload and indifference to the needs of the public realm and preservation have dogged the Bloomberg administration's plans to upzone the area around Grand Central Terminal since it was proposed more than a year ago. Nevertheless, "[t]he Bloomberg administration is scrambling to gather enough City Council votes to enact the mayor’s final plan for reshaping New York City’s skyline with a new generation of ever-taller skyscrapers," reports Charles V. Bagli.
"Many leading figures in the real estate industry, and many construction unions, support the plan, as does the Regional Plan Association, an influential private research organization. But a broad array of Manhattan community boards, preservationists and elected officials contend that the rezoning has been rushed, and could overwhelm a neighborhood whose streets are already congested and subway lines overcrowded."
"Robert Steel, the deputy mayor for economic development, insists that the administration is making headway," says Bagli. "But so far, opponents have not been persuaded."
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