Blog
    Friends of the Upper East Side > News > ADVOCACY UPDATE: Zoning for Quality & Affordability Begins the Public Review Process

ADVOCACY UPDATE: Zoning for Quality & Affordability Begins the Public Review Process

June 2, 2015
You will remember that the Department of City Planning held a scoping hearing on the proposed Zoning for Quality and Affordability Text Amendment earlier this spring. As a result of testimonyfrom many of our colleagues and members of the public, Chair Weisbrod extended the deadline for comment on the environmental scope, added informational sessions for Community Boards and created profiles of each district. Perhaps most significantly, DCP has refined the proposal so that height limits will no longer increase in R8B contextual districts (which make up 60% of residential zones on the Upper East Side!).
But our work is not done, as the revised plan remains problematic. The aspects that pertain to shaping new building envelopes are counter to the good urban design elements of the current built form and it is not at all clear they will produce any substantial affordable housing. While these adjustments may seem minor, they should not be uniformly applied to the Upper East Side (or any other neighborhood) without careful consideration for neighborhood context. On the Upper East Side, what seems a small increment in building height will have a disproportionate impact on neighborhood character.
What can YOU do?

Attend the CB8 Zoning Committee Meeting:

Tuesday, June 9th
6:30pm
Lenox Hill Hospital
130 East 77th Street, Theatre Room

Write letters in opposition of this plan to:

Hon. Carl Weisbrod, Chair
City Planning Commission
22 Reade Street
New York, NY 10007
ahousing@planning.nyc.gov
Click here to send a message.

Hon. Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President
1 Centre Street, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10007
(212) 669-4305
info@manhattanbp.nyc.gov 

Hon. Benjamin Kallos, City Council District 5
244 East 93rd Street
New York, NY 10128
(212) 860-1950
info@benkallos.com
Click here to send a message.

Hon. Daniel Garodnick, City Council District 4
211 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 818-0580
Click here to send a message.

Community Board 8
505 Park Avenue, Suite 620
New York, NY 10022
(212)758-4340
Click here to send a message.

You can make a difference!
Housing New York: Manhattan Community District 8
, , , , ,