We have some important updates for you regarding the proposed SoHo/NoHo rezoning plan which would devastate these neighborhoods and serve as a precedent for similar rezonings throughout New York:

• Community Board 2 will hold its final vote on its resolution regarding the plan on Monday night. We urge everyone to attend the meeting, testify against the proposed plan, and urge the Community Board to oppose it, noting there is a community alternative plan that would protect the existing neighborhood while allowing for the addition of deeper and more broadly affordable housing than the city’s plan proposes but is unlikely to deliver. CLICK HERE for meeting details; CLICK HERE to email testimony if you can’t attend. No upzoning, no big-box chain retail, no NYU!
• Despite repeated requests, Borough President Brewer, Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Carlina Rivera, and Speaker Corey Johnson have refused to condemn comments made by representatives of the NYC Department of City Planning defaming community groups that oppose the Mayor’s plan, claiming that they don’t care about displacement of their neighbors or the affordability of their neighborhood (city and statewide housing and tenant groups, who support our contentions, disagree). Worse, Councilmember Chin retweeted an op-ed accusing opponents of the rezoning of being racists and liars (ironic, since our studies have shown that the rezoning would make these neighborhoods richer, less diverse, and more expensive, and disproportionately hurt Asian Americans, and that the plan’s proponents have consistently lied about its impacts).
• It appears that it is likely that the City Planning Commission will hold its sole public hearing on this proposal on Wednesday, September 1 — the earliest day possible for them to hold it and arguably the day most likely to limit public participation. This shows just how afraid and contemptuous they are of the public and public input. Hold that date on your calendar and we’ll let you know as soon as that date has been confirmed.