Movie Screening: Rezoning Harlem

REZONING HARLEM follows longtime members of the Harlem community as they fight a 2008 rezoning that threatens to erase the history and culture of their legendary neighborhood and replace it with luxury housing, offices, and big-box retail. A shocking expose of how a group of ordinary citizens, who are passionate about the future of one the city’s most treasured neighborhoods, are systematically shut out of the city’s decision-making process, revealing New York City’s broken public review system and provoking discussion on what we can do about it.

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East Harlem Rezoning Plan Scraps Parking Minimums to Build More Housing

By David Meyer |
The Department of City Planning is preparing a major rezoning of East Harlem, and it calls for scrapping parking requirements along most of the avenues in the neighborhood. Earlier this year, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito released the “East Harlem Neighborhood Plan” [PDF], a set of recommendations developed by her office, Community Board 11, Borough President […]

Mark-Viverito’s East Harlem Plan Recommends Tossing Parking Minimums

By David Meyer |
Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito has released an “East Harlem Neighborhood Plan” to guide the city’s rezoning of the community, and one of the recommendations is the elimination of parking minimums. The 138-page plan [PDF] was developed over the past 10 months as a joint project of Mark-Viverito, Community Board 11, Borough President Gale Brewer, and the […]

If DCP Won’t Scrap Downtown BK Minimums, Is Broader Parking Reform Dead?

By Noah Kazis |
The proposed reduction of parking minimums in Downtown Brooklyn, though seriously insufficient, is good news for housing affordability and environmental sustainability in New York City. But it’s terrible news for those hoping to see broader reforms of New York City’s parking requirements. If the Department of City Planning felt so politically constrained that it could […]

East Harlem to Bloomberg: Protected Bike Lanes Must Extend Uptown

By Noah Kazis |
East Harlem will only be getting a bike lane upgrade on First Avenue this year (top). Protected lanes like those slated for downtown (bottom) have not been guaranteed. East Harlem residents are outraged by the city’s backtracking on plans to bring protected bike lanes to their neighborhood.  At a public meeting about the re-design of […]

T.A.: Car-Free Central Park Would Ease Neighborhood Congestion

By Brad Aaron |
A study released this week by Transportation Alternatives undercuts the claim that closing Central Park’s loop drive to cars would increase traffic on the streets of Harlem. To the contrary, findings indicate that loop entrances on 110th street at Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevards "act as traffic magnets," drawing vehicles onto neighborhood streets […]

Bus Rapid Transit, Not Ferry Subsidies, Would Help Struggling New Yorkers

By Stephen Miller |
In today’s State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio returned to his signature campaign issues of affordability and equity. Focusing mainly on housing, the mayor outlined a plan for growth centered around transit-accessible neighborhoods, and he recommitted to building several new Bus Rapid Transit routes. But de Blasio missed the mark with his big new transit initiative […]