Borough President To Hold Inwood Rezoning Public Hearing

INWOOD, NY — Borough President Gale Brewer will join the debate over the city's controversial plan to rezone a large portion of the Inwood neighborhood.

Brewer is holding a public hearing on the plan, which was designed and proposed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, on Tuesday, April 10. The hearing will be held at I.S. 218 on Broadway and West 196th Street at 6 p.m., according to the borough president's website.

The borough president holds the next vote in the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the rezoning plan. Community board 12 — which represents the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods — previously passed a resolution that supports aspects of the city's proposal to rezone Inwood and opposes other aspects.

Like the community board, Brewer's vote on the plan is advisory. Even if Brewer opposes or supports the plan, the City Planning Commission and the City Council will ultimately decided the plan's fate. The City Planning Commission and City Council also have the power to modify the plan, whereas the community board and borough president do not.

The public is invited to comment on the city's plan during the public hearing. Speakers are encouraged bring a printed copy of their remarks to the hearing and to stay under two minutes, according to the borough president's website.

Testimony can also be emailed to inwood@manhattanbp.nyc.gov, according to the borough president's website.

The city Economic Development Corporation has been pitching a neighborhood-wide rezoning to Inwood for about two years. After being booed out of a community board meeting in 2016, the corporation came back with an updated proposal in the summer of 2017 that featured contextual rezoning for areas west of 10th avenue and north of Dyckman street that aim to preserve the neighborhood's existing character.

The city estimates that the rezoning proposal will create "the potential" for 1,300 new affordable apartments int he neighborhood and publicly accessible waterfront spaces along the Harlem River. Opponents of the plan fear that it will result in accelerated gentrification of Inwood and the displacement of longtime residents and small businesses.

Read more about the city's plan here.

Photo courtesy NYC Economic Development Corportation