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JEROME AVENUE
EDITION

JANUARY 26, 2018
WWW.ZONEIN.ORG

The Future of NYC Neighborhoods

FINAL VOTE LOOMS ON HUGE
JEROME AVENUE REZONING
O
build subsidized, income-targeted housing rather
than market-rate housing.
The rezoning is part of a larger, multi-agency
plan for the neighborhood including public park
improvements, strategies to combat displacement
and to preserve existing affordable housing, investments in small businesses and workforce training,
and resources for other community needs.
“More than just the rezoning, the Jerome Avenue
Neighborhood Plan represents the goals and visions
for an active, safe, healthy and vibrant corridor that
serves the community,” said City Planning Commission Chairwoman Marisa Lago at the vote.
But the Bronx Coalition for Community Vision, a
coalition of residents as well as tenant, faith and labor groups, opposes the rezoning and argues that
such a massive land-use change will ignite the local real-estate market, resulting in the creation of
market-rate housing and exacerbating gentrification pressures. They also argue the mandated income-targeted housing won’t actually be affordable
to local residents and that there are not sufficient
guarantees that development will create pathways
to career-track construction jobs for local residents.
The group is calling on the Council to reject the plan
or reduce the scale of the rezoning by half.

Photo: NYC Council

n January 17, the City Planning Commission
voted 10 to 1 to approve the De Blasio administration’s proposed rezoning of Jerome
Avenue, sending the rezoning to the City Council for
final negotiations and an ultimate vote.
Previously, community boards 4, 5, 7 and Bronx
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. also recommended the rezoning, though conditioned their approval
on a list of changes to the plan.
The rezoning would impact Jerome Avenue and
some adjacent streets roughly from East 165th
Street to 184th Street, which today are mostly zoned
to allow for auto-related businesses.
The rezoning would instead allow residential development—the city now estimates approximately
3,780 new apartments will result from it—along
with the creation of new commercial and community facility spaces, and would require all developers
to make a portion of the apartments income-targeted under the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing
policy.
The city has already announced that it will subsidize the creation of income-targeted housing on
some public sites, and it predicts that in the near
term, because the market on Jerome Ave is still
weak, developers will seek to work with the city to

By Council custom, local members Fernando Cabrera (left) and Vanessa Gibson will have the final say on the plan.

All eyes are now on Bronx councilmembers
Vanessa Gibson and Fernando Cabrera, whose
districts overlap with the rezoning, to negotiate
the plan’s final details. Both councilmembers
have suggested they will fight for improvements
to the plan but ultimately support its vision.
In an interview with City Limits on January 18,
Gibson said she would push for more commitments to specific subsidized housing projects,
and that it’s important to her that new housing serve a mix of incomes, especially families
of three making below $25,770 but also others
making in the $34,360 through $51,540 range.
“In order for us to achieve a majority of affordable units at the lower income levels, we
have to accept higher income apartments,” she
said. Gibson also said she wanted to see more
preservation of existing affordable housing than
the city has proposed. Asked to respond to the
coalition’s request to halve the number of units,
she expressed skepticism but said she wanted to
review their request and “understand their logic.”
The city is retaining the auto-industry zoning
in a few spots of the corridor to protect existing
auto-businesses, but Gibson said “many of us
believe it’s not enough” and that she and Cabrera are considering various proposals to expand
areas where the city wants auto firms to remain.
She also wants the city to offer an assistance
package to any auto-business that wishes to relocate from the area.
Among several other concerns, school overcrowding—which the rezoning will only make
worse—is a top worry, Gibson said. The School
Construction Authority has announced plans
to create 388 new seats in School District 10 by
expanding an annex at P.S. 33, but Gibson says
they’re exploring ways to increase capacity further in District 10 and that she is “not going to
accept this plan without a brand new school for
district 9.”
-ABIGAIL SAVITCH-LEW

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FINAL HEARING 9:30 AM, FEBRUARY 7 AT CITY HALL

 EXPLAINER

What the Mayor Proposes for Your Neighborhood
WHAT IS
ZONING?

Currently zoned for auto, though there are
also some other uses. Proposed rezoning
would allow for 11-story residential buildings
along the elevated rail, and nine stories on
the cross streets.

Zoning is a set of laws that govern the
size, use and design of buildings. Every
square inch of land in New York City
is zoned. A rezoning is when the city
changes the zoning rules for a particular
area .
The de Blasio administration is planning
to rezone a dozen or more city neighborhoods to permit denser development —
and, City Hall says, create more affordable housing.
Some community groups have called
for rezonings, and others have resisted
them, saying they will trigger displacement of low-income tenants.

Currently allows for medium-density residential
with local retail on lower floors (and actually
contains many one-story retail buildings), but will
be rezoned to allow 16-story buildings with local
retail.

A commercial overlay, which allows neighborhoodserving stores on lower floors, will be mapped
throughout the corridor. A special district will also be
established with special additional regulations, including
rules to accommodate building along the elevated rail
and require more active storefront windows.

Currently zoned mostly for
auto, though also contains
some other uses, with a
commercial district on 170th
Street. Would be mostly
rezoned to encourage
residential buildings with
maximum heights of 11 or 16
stories along the elevated rail
and 14 stories along 170th
Street.

Zoning currently allows a mix of auto zoning, medium
density residential, and local retail, but would be rezoned
as a dense commercial district where there can be both
housing and department stores.

Currently mostly zoned for auto,
though there are also some other
uses. Would mostly be rezoned to
encourage residential development
with maximum heights of 11-, 13- and
16-stories along the elevated rail, with
the tallest buildings permitted near
subway stations.

Highway
currently zoned
for apartment
buildings, but
rezoning would
increase allowable
residential density
along the highway,
with buildings of up
to 14 stories.

The city is leaving in place these three autoareas and one manufacturing area to serve
as “retention zones” for auto businesses.
According to the Bronx Coalition, these zones
hold 28 percent of the rezoning area’s autobusinesses.

Currently allows auto and
manufacturing. Most parts
would be rezoned with high
density residential districts,
with 17-story buildings (and up
to 19- along elevated rails and
to 22 -on portions of some lots).

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 EXPLAINER

HOW MANDATORY INCLUSIONARY
HOUSING WORKS
Mandatory Inclusionary Housing requires
developers to reserve apartments for different income groups.
When a neighborhood is rezoned to allow
more density, the City Council decides
what mix of housing to require from the
menu at right.
Income-targeted housing can also be
produced through the use of city subsidies, where developers accept city funding in exchange for meeting affordability
requirements.
The city has promised that in new, large
buildings it subsidizes, at least 10 percent
of the apartments will be for households
making below $25,770 and another 10
percent will be for households making
between $25,770 and $42,950 (for a family of three).

What Happens Now?
THE CITY COUNCIL
First the Zoning Subcommittee, holds a hearing. Then, the
subcommittee votes on the proposal. Next, the Land Use
Committee and finally the full Council vote on the proposal.
The Council can pass, reject or modify the plan; usually the
member in whose district the project falls has the most say.
The Council has 50 days to act. (If the Council modifies the
proposal, it goes back to the Planning Commission for 15 days
to review and vote again, unless so much changes that ULURP
has to start over. But that is very unlikely.)
THE MAYOR
Next, it’s the mayor’s turn. He can accept or veto the Council’s
zoning decision. He has only five days to make that call. In reality, the mayor and Council will almost certainly negotiate the
final plan that the Council votes on.

What Can You Do?
ATTEND AND TESTIFY AT
THE PUBLIC HEARING
Wednesday, February 7, 9:30 a.m.
City Hall
CONTACT YOUR COUNCILMEMBER
Councilmember Vanessa Gibson
718-588-7500
District16Bronx@council.nyc.gov
Councilmember Fernando Cabrera
347-590-2874
fcabrera@council.nyc.gov
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
AT ZONEIN.ORG

BACK TO THE COUNCIL
In the unikely event that the mayor vetoes the Council’s decision, the Council can override that veto with a two-thirds vote.
It has 10 days to try.

1-844-ZONE-NYC (844-966-3692)
zone@citylimits.org

COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Community Board 4
718-299-0800 * bx04@cb.nyc.gov
Community Board 5
718-364-2030 *bx05@cb.nyc.gov
Community Board 7
718-933-5650 * info@bronxcb7.info
Community Action for Safe Apartments
718-716-8000
NW Bronx Community-Clergy Coalition
718-584-0515
Right to Counsel Coalition
(Help for tenants facing eviction)
www.righttocounselnyc.org

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FINAL HEARING 9:30 AM, FEBRUARY 7 AT CITY HALL

W

 OPINION

COALITION: COUNCIL MUST
REJECT OR REDUCE THE PLAN

T

he City of New York plans to rezone 92 blocks in the southwest Bronx,
mostly along Jerome Avenue, from 167th Street to 184th Street—a
plan that would bring over 4,000 new apartments to the neighborhood. This rezoning will forever change the Bronx. The Bronx Coalition for
a Community Vision believes it will cause massive residential displacement
and the loss of businesses and jobs in our community.
The Coalition was formed in late 2014 after learning about the city’s
plan, and we have since engaged thousands of residents in developing approaches that are responsive to the needs of our community. We have done
everything we can to collaborate with the city to develop a rezoning plan
that better meets our community’s needs. The city hasn’t listened. We ask
the Council to do so now.
In its current form, the city’s plan will drive up rents in the community,
exacerbating displacement pressures on an area that thousands of New
Yorkers and dozens of businesses call home. By the city’s own estimate, almost half of the apartments the rezoning will bring will not be subsidized or
subject to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) requirements. These
2,000 apartments will have no affordability restrictions at all.
As for the subsidized apartments, at most 10 percent will be affordable to
the almost half of families in our community who make less than $25,000 a
year; when factoring in the 2,000 market-rate units this rezoning will bring,
that means just 5 percent of new apartments will be for families most in
need. And this is the best-case scenario. If the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts to the federal housing budget come to pass, where will the city
get the money to subsidize more than 2,000 apartments? Even if the city
has the money, it admits that over the 10-year build-out period, the market
will shift to the point that developers no longer want to take subsidies.
Meanwhile, the current HireNYC approach, which requires only that developers receiving significant city subsidies share job postings and consider
local candidates, does little to help low-income residents actually get hired
for high-quality construction jobs. The city must require developers to
craft plans that create clear local-hiring goals for targeted groups—such as
women, disconnected youth, NYCHA residents, and reentry populations—
as well as invest in job-training programs that will enable residents to secure career-track construction jobs.
We implore the Council to vote down this plan, which is flat-out wrong
for our neighborhood. If this isn’t possible, we ask the city to meet us halfway by creating a strong jobs program and cutting the scale of the rezoning
in half so it creates about 2,000 units of housing in our community, much of
which would be subsidized.
Either path would decrease the risk of displacement and enable the city
to continue the strategies that have helped create over 1,500 subsidized
apartments in our area since 2014, which on average are more affordable
than the apartments the proposed rezoning would create. The administration should also create hundreds of housing vouchers targeted toward
homeless families who have been displaced from our community. We also
demand the city track all current affordable units lost and develop a comprehensive plan to replace those units.
Our preference is to collaborate with the city on a different plan—one
that meets the community’s needs. However, if the Council elects to pass
the irresponsible city proposal, which is based on a legally inadequate environmental review that categorically excludes consideration of displacement risks, we are prepared to exercise our right to sue to stop it.

-BRONX COALITION FOR A COMMUNITY VISION
STEERING COMMITTEE

BORO PREZ: A REZONING THAT
TRANSFORMS THE ENTIRE
BRONX IS POSSIBLE

T

he plan for the future of Jerome Avenue represents tremendous transformative potential not just for the surrounding
neighborhoods, but for the entire Bronx.
Whatever we do, we must ensure that this rezoning works for
everyone, especially the tenants who currently call these neighborhoods home.
The commitments my office has negotiated with the administration will help do just that.
At my public hearing on the Jerome Avenue rezoning in November, I listened to so many local residents who shared their
concerns about this rezoning proposal leading to displacement.
In their testimony, they underscored to me just how important it
is that this rezoning work for low income and vulnerable tenants.
That advocacy fueled my negotiations with the city, and the
commitments we negotiated have set the standard for tenant
protections going forward.
First and foremost, the city has committed to creating new
apartments within the rezoning for the lowest income levels, and
has agreed to set aside half of all apartments for current community residents.
In addition, the city has
agreed to the creation of a Certificate of No Harassment pilot
program within the rezoning
area to protect tenants from being harassed; the creation of a
Southwest Bronx task force that
will help identify and protect
buildings of concern and keep
more units affordable; a guarantee that the city will preserve
1,500 units of affordable housing over a two-year period in Bronx
Community Boards #4 and #5, keeping thousands of residents in
affordable homes over the long-term; reopening the southern
portion of Aqueduct Park and additional protections for the auto
industry, among other commitments.
The people of The Bronx are not opposed to improvements.
We want to see our communities flourish. But we also want to be
able to enjoy the benefits created by ongoing development. The
residents who testified at my hearing asked for greater affordability, more significant tenant protections and assurances that this
rezoning would work for everyone, including them. I got this administration to agree to protect our current residents.
As this process moves forward, I urge Council Members Vanessa
Gibson and Fernando Cabrera to continue to take the administration to task in order to negotiate the best possible agreement for
both the people in the neighborhoods surrounding the Jerome
Avenue corridor as well as the entire Bronx.
These commitments from the city are excellent steps towards
those goals, and I am proud to have negotiated for them on behalf
of the Jerome Avenue community.

“We must ensure
that this rezoning
works for everyone,
especially the
tenants.”

-RUBEN DIAZ JR..
BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT

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