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Tag: SoHo-NoHo

Victory: Punitive SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Measure Vetoed!

We are thrilled to report that late Friday Mayor Adams vetoed a draconian, punitive measure we opposed introduced by (now former) City Councilmember Margaret Chin and approved in December by the City Council (including local Councilmembers Carlina Rivera and Corey Johnson). That measure would have imposed crippling fines on noncertified artist residents of certain types of […]

Handouts to Big Real Estate, and a Festivus for the Rest of Us!

This holiday of Festivus was developed as an alternative to the commercialization of the Christmas season and is celebrated annually on December 23rd. First celebrated in the mid-1960s by author and editor Daniel O’Keefe (father of Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe) it was popularized on Seinfeld’s December 18, 1997, episode “The Strike” when Kramer refuses to […]

    2021 Village Preservation Public Programs Round-Up

    As we close the chapter on yet another wild and successful of year of public programs at Village Preservation, we wanted to take the time to reflect and highlight some of 2021’s best moments. Despite the twists and turns of this year’s ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, we’ve hosted 80 different educational lectures, book talks, and walking […]

    City Council Approves SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement Plan

    Hard-Fought-For Changes Will Blunt Some of Worst Elements of Plan, which Remains Giant Real Estate Giveaway Late yesterday the City Council voted 43 to 5 to approve the revised version of the Mayor’s SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement plan. As we previously reported, after months of fighting, the plan was modified to eliminate or lessen some […]

      SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Rezoning Reminder: Final Vote as Soon as Wednesday, Call and E-Mail TODAY

      The full City Council appears poised to vote on the revised SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning+Displacement Plan as soon as this Wednesday (full Council is currently scheduled to meet at 1:30 pm). It’s CRITICAL that City Councilmembers hear from you NOW that the revised plan — which would still promote grossly oversized development, the demolition of rent-regulated affordable […]

      City Council Committee Approves SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement Plan With Modifications

      Yesterday the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee and Land Use Committee each voted to approve a revised SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement Plan, with changes negotiated by Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Carlina Rivera, who urged their colleagues on the committee to support the plan. All but one did. In short, the revised plan is a bit less […]

      Council Appears Poised to Vote on SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Plan TODAY, as New Financial Analysis Shows Fatal Flaws in Affordable Housing Claims

      After several delays, the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee and Land Use Committee appear poised to vote on the massive SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement plan today starting at approximately 11:30 am. There has been no public word on what if any changes the Council may make to the plan, though we have good reason to believe […]

      City Council Vote On SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Pushed Back to Week of December 6 — CALL AND WRITE NOW!

      The vote on Mayor de Blasio’s SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning+Displacement plan, originally expected this Thursday, has now been pushed back to next week, with the first vote in the Council’s Zoning Subcommittee as early as next Tuesday. While we understand changes to the plan are being considered by the Council, most if not all appear to be […]

      SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Vote Likely This Week — Flood the City Council with Calls and Letters

      The City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee will vote on the Mayor’s SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning+Displacement plan as early as this Thursday, setting the stage for the final decision by the full City Council. It’s critical that Councilmembers hear from you NOW! Call your councilmember and tell them to vote NO. Tell them changes aren’t enough, the plan needs […]

      De Blasio’s Great SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Developer Giveaway (Video!)

      The greed orgy that is de Blasio’s SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown rezoning is currently before the Land Use Committee of the City Council, which held a public hearing on the matter on November 9. Opponents of the plan greatly outnumbered its proponents, which consisted primarily of Open New York-affiliated individuals (more on them and their fine leadership, a […]

        de Blasio’s Great SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Developer Giveaway (Video!)

        The greed orgy that is de Blasio’s SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown rezoning is currently before the Land Use Committee of the City Council, which held a public hearing on the matter on November 9. Opponents of the plan greatly outnumbered its proponents, which consisted primarily of Open New York-affiliated individuals (more on them and their fine leadership here); […]

          SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Rezoning Vote Likely After Thanksgiving; Video and Final Push for ‘No’ Vote

          The first (and in many ways most important) of three required votes in the City Council on the Mayor’s disastrous SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning + Displacement plan may take place as early as next Thursday, December 2, when the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee meets again. The subcommittee must vote on the plan, followed by the Land Use […]

          City Council Virtual Hearing on Disastrous SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Upzoning Plan TODAY — PLEASE TESTIFY AND/OR SUBMIT COMMENTS!

          The City Council’s sole public hearing on the massive and disastrous proposed upzoning of SoHo, NoHo, and parts of Chinatown will be Tuesday, November 9, in the Zoning Subcommittee of the City Council. The virtual meeting begins at 10 am, but this is the fourth and final agenda item, so this item’s hearing is not […]

          Facts and Data Continue To Contradict Upzoning Argument

          or YIMBY Movement: A Flat Earth Society for the 21st Century  Earlier this month, I wrote an op-ed citing two recent analyses — one about new housing construction by neighborhood in New York City, the other about affordable housing prices by neighborhood — which showed that the YIMBY (‘Yes In My Backyard’) theory that simply […]

          Romare Bearden and the Formation of An African American Artistic Identity Downtown

          Groundbreaking artist, intellectual, and activist Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was born in Mecklenberg County, North Carolina. When Bearden was about 3 years old, his parents Bessye Johnson Banks Bearden and Richard Howard Bearden moved the family to Harlem in search of a better life as so many other southern African Americans […]

          Opponents Overwhelm Six-Hour City Planning SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Hearing; City’s Baseless Claims of Racism Face Backlash; Elected Officials Join Opposition

          Some important updates on the SoHo/NoHo rezoning fight: Opponents Swamp Supporters at Public Hearing: Around 100 people testified at yesterday’s City Planning Commission public hearing, even though it was held just prior to the Labor Day weekend and as the city was still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Ida, showing this administration’s contempt for […]

          City Planning Commission SoHo/NoHo Upzoning Hearing This Thursday, September 2, 10 am

          Virtual and In-Person Testimony Allowed Borough President Holds Five-Hour Public Hearing, Withholds Recommendation Opponents Including Incoming and Past Councilmembers Urge Rejection The City Planning Commission will hold its sole public hearing on the massive SoHo/NoHo Upzoning plan this Thursday beginning at 10 am. Virtual and in-person testimony at 120 Broadway’s basement concourse hearing room will […]

          Meet the Wolf of SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown!

          We have received a piece of art that truly captures the essence of the SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown rezoning and breathes new life into the age-old maxim: never pick a fight with someone who buys artist paint brushes by the dozen. It arrived courtesy of a resident of the area who shares his neighbors’ concerns about the likely […]

            De Blasio’s Plan to Reduce Affordable Housing in Soho/NoHo/Chinatown

            De Blasio wants to fool the public into believing that his plan for rezoning SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown will diversify incomes and increase affordability in those neighborhoods. The opposite will in fact be true — his plan will likely reduce the existing affordable housing stock, and produce very little new affordable housing. And even if it does, the […]

              Huge Turnout for SoHo/NoHo Hearing, Housing/Tenant and Neighborhood Groups United in Opposition

              We had a huge and united turnout on Wednesday at our press conference opposing the Mayor’s outrageous SoHo/NoHo rezoning plan and the Community Board 2 public hearing that followed. We were joined by local, city, and statewide affordable housing/tenant groups, SoHo, NoHo, Chinatown, and Lower East Side groups, and citywide and statewide historic preservation organizations to […]

              Demographic Deception: de Blasio’s SoHo/NoHo Plan

              Last week, the City ‘certified,‘ or issued its final proposal for the massive upzoning of SoHo, NoHo, and parts of Chinatown. The voluminous documents contained numerous inaccuracies, falsehoods, and mischaracterizations, designed to sell this obscene real estate giveaway to the Mayor’s real estate benefactors as a boon to social justice and equity. But if you […]

                City’s SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Plan Would Make Neighborhoods Less Affordable, Wealthier, and Less Diverse

                The newly-released study by Village Preservation shows that the City’s SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Plan, which includes part of Chinatown, will make the area richer, whiter, and more expensive to live in than now, increase demolition pressures on existing rent regulated units, and potentially destroy more affordable housing than it creates. The city also does not accurately represent […]

                City’s SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Plan Includes Part of Chinatown, and Hundreds of Rent Regulated Units Could Be Lost

                The newly-released study by Village Preservation shows that the City’s SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Plan, which includes part of Chinatown, will make the area richer, whiter, and more expensive to live in than now, increase demolition pressures on existing rent regulated units, and potentially destroy more affordable housing than it creates. Town Hall and Teach In Tonight Village […]

                There’s Been A Lot of Talk About Affordable Housing in SoHo and NoHo. Here’s What They Really Mean

                An abridged version of this piece appeared as an op-ed in the January 23, 2020 edition of AM-Metro NY. A recent report issued on behalf of the NYC Department of City Planning, the Manhattan Borough President, and City Councilmember Margaret Chin called for seeking opportunities to create affordable housing in SoHo and NoHo, and to […]