Borough President Scott Stringer has endorsed the city's proposed rezoning of the Lower East Side, giving a boost to a plan that would allow for more residential development while adding restrictions to other types, including dorms.

His endorsement of the plan, issued today, comes as the City Planning Commission gears up for a mega-hearing Wednesday, with throngs of community members expected to deliver testimony on proposed rezonings of the Lower East Side, the planned middle income-intensive Hunters Point South development near Long Island City, and the proposed redevelopment of Willets Point by Shea Stadium.

The Lower East Side rezoning cuts back on a density bonus given to "community facilities," which include dorms and buildings with medical offices and other uses, while allowing developers in parts of the neighborhood to build bigger if they include below-market rate housing.  read more »

We thought we’d post a few renderings from the city’s slideshow at its rowdy Coney Island scoping meeting Tuesday evening.

All goes without saying that renderings are a crucial tool in the battle to win public support for development projects in the city. The last batch made by the city, now somewhat obsolete given that the plan has since been modified, emphasized rides and roller coasters, whereas this time the city seems to be trying to stress the street-level vitality that could come as a result of the plan.

Renderings from the Department of City Planning:

The Department of City Planning is forging ahead with its plan to rezone 114 blocks of the East Village and the Lower East Side to limit the height and density of future development, despite allegations of racism from community groups in the Bowery and Chinatown, which were not included in the rezoning.  read more »

The City Council is expected to pass a major rezoning of 125th Street this afternoon, opening up Harlem’s historic main thoroughfare to substantial levels of new development.

The move comes as the plan, pushed forward by the city and altered some by the Council, has met opposition from many in Harlem, who claim the rezoning will accelerate gentrification and displacement in the predominantly low-income African-American and Latino district.

Speaking to reporters, members of the Council sought to show the support they’ve received from the larger Harlem community for the plan, appearing with multiple religious leaders and community board chairs as they touted the plan.  read more »

Amanda Burden, director of the city’s Department of City Planning and chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, has been given a top designation by the American Institute of Certified Planners, the country’s major planners' organization.

Ms. Burden was inducted last night into the organization’s College of Fellows, a designation held by only about 400 members.

Ms. Burden’s work in the Planning Department has been a critical element of the Bloomberg administration’s legacy on development in this city, as she has crafted more than 80 rezonings, allowing for thousands of units of new housing while limiting development in many low-rise neighborhoods.

Even if many of the high-profile mega-projects championed by the city ultimately fail to be realized, the rezonings carry long-term impact, particularly the 2005 Hudson Yards rezoning that opened the far West Side to dense development.  read more »

The city's proposed 125th Street rezoning seems all but certain to pass the City Council, as a key Council member, Inez Dickens, signaled her support for a modified version of the plan this morning during a City Council subcommittee meeting. The majority of the Council is expected to follow Ms. Dickens’ lead on the vote, which would allow for substantial levels of new development along Harlem’s main commercial corridor.

The subcommittee members are voting now, according to two people at the hearing.  read more »

The City Council as early as tomorrow could approve the Bloomberg administration’s proposed rezoning of 125th Street, as a Council subcommittee lists the proposal on its agenda.

The rezoning would allow for substantially more density around 125th Street in Central Harlem, an action that is expected to bring much new development to the historic African-American corridor.  read more »

Late last week, we put up a post about how the Bloomberg administration agreed to exempt a Vornado RealtyTrust-owned site in Harlem from a new height limit to be established on 125th Street as part of a rezoning of the area. The City Council is expected to follow suit.

Getting to such a point, where Vornado would build its 600,000-square-foot Harlem Park office tower at Park Avenue about 40 feet higher than the 290-foot height limit, took a bit of wheeling and dealing.

In order to gain the community’s nod for the tower, and by association the expected approval of local Councilwoman Inez Dickens, Vornado had to work out an agreement with Community Board 11, pledging to give more than $1 million in concessions.  read more »

Harlem historian Michael Henry Adams just sent over an advisory to let us know he’s bringing the fight over the proposed 125th Street rezoning to the mayor’s doorstep at his East 79th Street townhouse, with plans to protest the proposal at 8 tonight.

Not too far away, and also a target of the protest, Mr. Adams pointed out, is the home of the Planning Department’s director, Amanda Burden, who has spearheaded the rezoning.  read more »

That's a combination of people living longer and staying in the city longer. The school-age population will drop slightly, the City Planning report says. Needless to say, nightclubs may feel a bit of a crunch, but the early-bird special could make a big comeback.