Garment Industry Aggressively Challenges Rezoning
JACKSON CHEN
A Garment District panel discussion convened by Borough President Gale Brewer included (from left) George Kalajian, president of Tom’s Sons International Pleating; Steve Epstein, a representative of Theatrical Wardrobe Local 764; Edgar Romney, an official from Workers United; Barbara Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance; Yeohlee Teng, a designer for YEOHLEE Inc.; Joseph Ferrara, president of the New York Garment Center Supplier Association; and Susan Chin, executive director of the Design Trust for Public Space.
BY JACKSON CHEN
O
rganizations that are working to preserve the fabric of the Garment District are offering alternative proposals to what they see as an unfriendly zoning change being pushed by the city. The fact that criticism is coming from many quarters was clear in an April 24 forum and panel discussion convened by Borough Pres-
ident Gale Brewer, who has called on the de Blasio administration to go back to square one in its planning about the cluster of Midtown blocks roughly from West 35th to 40th Streets between Broadway and Ninth Avenue. Some garment industry officials are urging a fundamental rethinking of the city’s apparent goal of shifting the industry’s center to Brooklyn, and even leaders in that
borough agree that the rezoning should be guided in part by an advisory group made up of stakeholders. The intensifying discussion of substitute proposals for the Garment District’s rezoning follows a heated Community Board 5 meeting in late March at which the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Department of City Planning presented their ideas,
which includes the elimination of a 1:1 preservation requirement, created in 1987, under which every new square foot of office space is required to be matched by preservation of manufacturing space. A key component of the city’s rezoning v ision is to stem t he encroachment of hotels into the district by requiring new ones to
GARMENT DISTRICT, continued on p.15
De Blasio Pledges $100MM to Close East Side Greenway Gap BY JACKSON CHEN
T
he city has announced a $100 million investment for the construction of a new East River esplanade from East 53rd to 61st Streets to fill a gap in the existing pathway for pedestrians and cyclists traversing the Manhattan waterfront. On April 25, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’s looking to close the largest incomplete stretch of the Waterfront Greenway surrounding Manhattan by using millions from the city’s capital budget. The project would go far toward finally wrapping the entire island with a contiguous 32 miles of pedestrian and cyclist waterfront access. Currently, the East River Esplanade provides disjointed waterfront access, with users having to cut over onto city streets between East 53rd and 61st Streets as they approach from either the north or the south. “The Hudson River Greenway has vastly improved quality of life on the
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NYC DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
NYC DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
The city plans to bridge a key gap in the Waterfront Greenway by building an esplanade from East 53rd to 61st Streets.
The new esplanade will allow pedestrians and cyclists to avoid having to cut onto city streets in the East 50s.
project has already received initial approval from the US Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. The East River Esplanade has long been in need of improvements, as repeatedly pointed out by elected officials and community organizations. Congressmember Carolyn Maloney and City Councilmember
Ben Kallos, co-chairs of the East River Esplanade Task Force, have persistently pressed for funding to repair the esplanade’s infrastructure. North of 60th Street, the esplanade is currently undergoing needed renovations through public and private partnerships, with a total
West Side,” de Blasio said, “And we want families in every corner in the borough to have that same access to bike, walk, and play along the water.” The city’s Economic Development Corporation will lead the project and begin design work this year. Construction is expected to start in 2019, with the completed esplanade expected sometime in 2022. The
ESPLANADE, continued on p.15
May 04–May 17, 2017 | ManhattanExpressNews.nyc