New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to rezone the iconic downtown Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo to make way for 800 affordable hous...
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to rezone the iconic downtown Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo to make way for 800 affordable housing units that he says will help improve 'racial justice'.
De Blasio has been widely accused of ruining New York City with his response to the pandemic which has involved stripping the NYPD of $1billion and putting 14,000 homeless people into hotels in upscale residential neighborhoods.
Crime has gone up at the same time as business has declined, triggering fears among many that the Big Apple may never recover. In one of his final long-term acts as Mayor - his term finishes next November- he wants rezone SoHo and parts of NoHo to make way for more affordable housing.
The three areas are half of Cooper Square in NoHo, which is currently where bars and restaurants are shuttered as a result of the pandemic, an area of southwest SoHo between Sixth Avenue and West Broadway where The James hotel is, and a sliver of southeast SoHo, between Canal Street and Grand Street, where the 11 Howard hotel is.
The 800 units de Blasio wants to build will be among a total of 3,200 units across three proposed sites. Some are empty but some are not and include bars, restaurants, hotels and offices. They will not stand alone but will make up 25 percent of new, luxury apartments that the zoning paves the way to build.
It invites real estate developers - who he has long been accused of taking bribes from - to build mammoth buildings which residents' groups say will rip the soul from the area. Whether or not any are likely to take him up on the opportunity given the current state of the real estate and investment market remains to be seen.
The three areas where de Blasio wants to build affordable housing are shown in yellow. They sit on the periphery of some of Manhattan's most iconic neighborhoods and will open the door to large, high-rise buildings. They will most likely be luxury condos built by developers that have to include affordable units
De Blasio previously told of plans to acquire buildings around the city to turn them into affordable housing.
His deputy Mayor on Wednesday said that SoHo should not be any different to any other neighborhood in New York and that it needs to 'pull its weight' in racial equity.
'The pandemic and the movement for racial justice make clear that all neighborhoods must pull their weight to provide safe, affordable housing options,' Deputy Mayor Vicki Been said.
But resident's groups fear this will invite soulless skyscrapers to the area, which is mostly currently occupied with buildings that are six floors at their tallest.
His rezoning plans also loosen the rules for retailers and opens them up to bigger spaces.
Currently, the cap on a retail space in SoHo is 10,000 sq ft but under rezoning, they could become far more expansive.
It opens the area up to greater economic success after a period of extreme hardship but, it would also change the landscape of the historic area.
De Blasio has been accused of using SoHo as a 'whipping horse for his political agenda'
The SoHo Alliance says de Blasio blindsided them with the announcement on Wednesday after months of discussions where he never mentioned affordable housing.
'He is playing the race card that he does often. He talks about equity and diversity. Stop it, Bill. If he wants to have affordable housing why doesn't he do it in Park Slope?
'He's using SoHo as a whipping horse for his political agenda.
'We're not going to stand to have high rises to be part of his failed legacy,' Sean Sweeney of the SoHo Alliance told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
He said most residents were not worried about the affordable housing units - which will form a small part of larger, market-value buildings - but that retail may change drastically.
'We're worried that SoHo could turn into Herald Square with Macy's,' Sweeney said.
Many retailers in SoHo are pushing on with their leases despite a decline in tourism and footfall in the area. It's unclear what de Blasio's plans will do to affect them. The three earmarked zones are currently home to hotels including 11 Howard and The James, and dozens of bars and restaurants.
SoHo is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the world. It was a major tourist and shopping destination before the pandemic but has been largely deserted since March. The famous cobbled shopping streets (above) are historically protected but neighbors say putting large, condo buildings with affordable housing nearby will have a detrimental effect on the area
One of the proposed sites includes these buildings in Cooper Square, NoHo. They currently house restaurants, offices, and retailers
Changing the zoning does not force any of them closed but it opens up the door for developers or larger retailers to make attractive enough offers to replace them and entirely change the landscape of the area.
Manhattan has already had much of its soul ripped out by the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 1,000 bars and restaurants across the city have closed permanently and hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have fled for good. The city's once teaming office work force is now 10 percent of what it was.
There are fears that the many independent businesses will be replaced by franchises.
The 11 Howard hotel, one of the most expensive in the city, sits in one of the areas that has been earmarked for rezoning
Andrew Burman of the Greenwich Village Historical Society told DailyMail.com de Blasio was using affordable housing as a 'veil' to give a sweet deal to real estate developers.
'I think it's inaccurate to say he's talking about it for affordable housing. He's talking about an up-zoning that would be 3/4 luxury and 1/4 affordable.
'This neighborhood has long said it would welcome affordable housing. What they don't welcome are huge sky scrapers.
'We still don't know all the details but I'll say this - out of scale, high rise towers, especially ones predominantly one of luxury condos, don't t make for a better neighborhood. It's not what New York needs,' he said.
De Blasio has been widely criticized for his pandemic response.
He put 14,000 homeless people into hotels around the city which drove up crime and antisocial behavior in residential areas, took away $1billion from the NYPD in response to BLM protesters and told the rich who had fled that they were 'fair weather friends' who would be replaced.
The city and state are staring down the barrel of an enormous deficit which they say can only be corrected by a federal bailout.
He cannot be re-elected and will finish his term as Mayor in November 2021.
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