Fits and Starts for New York City's Special Districts

Joe Anuta has been busy on the New York City rezoning beat this week. First, Anuta reported that the de Blasio Administration had "abruptly pulled its proposal to take a bigger cut of air-rights sales in the Theater District Monday…" The demise of the Theater District air rights proposal came "after a rift with City Council members, who altered a key part of the proposed legislation."

The proposal would have compelled theater owners "to pony up more cash for a fund used to support smaller organizations and broaden interest in productions…" The proposal is a response to the landmark status of many theater properties in the district, which makes it impossible to develop to larger footprints and more modern facilities. The new, now dead, proposal would have updated the details of a special district created in 1998, explains Anuta in the article.

A day later, Anuta reported that the de Blasio Administration "has been quietly planning a rezoning of the Garment District in Manhattan that could relax protections for manufacturers…" According to Anuta, the de Blasio Administration could file an official application for the rezoning as early as April. The proposed rezoning is connected to a specific development:

The rezoning is tied to a plan announced earlier this month to create a new manufacturing campus in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that would provide lower cost space to fashion companies that now call midtown Manhattan home. The idea behind the Made in New York campus, which will be around 200,000 square feet and also cater to media companies, was to give the garment industry a chance to find space in a cheaper part of the city.

Anuta notes that a similar rezoning and development scheme met its demise at the hand of public backlash in 2009.