Mayor Bill de Blasio earned a late-term legacy victory Tuesday when the City Council approved a rezoning of SoHo and NoHo that could reshape the pricey neighborhoods with an eye toward creating more affordable housing. It marked the final rezoning of de Blasio’s tenure and followed a vote last month to overhaul Brooklyn’s Gowanus with […]
SoHo
Posted inDevelopment
Gowanus Housing Overhaul and Blood Center Expansion Headed for Approval After Council Strikes Deals
The City Council announced a deal Wednesday with the Mayor’s Office to reshape Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood — bringing thousands of affordable apartments and hundreds of millions of dollars for public housing repairs and other crucial infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a separate agreement put a significantly scaled down-version of New York Blood […]
Posted inBrooklyn
Gowanus Redevelopment Gets Go-Ahead as de Blasio’s Team Sails Away
With nearly unanimous approval Wednesday from the City Planning Commission, the long-in-the-making rezoning of Gowanus heads to crucial negotiations between key City Council members and Mayor Bill de Blasio over the Brooklyn neighborhood’s future. The final result will be key to the de Blasio legacy: It’s the administration’s first effort to use rezoning to spur […]
Posted inEconomy
SoHo’s Big Test: Can Lower Rents Lure Back Stores and Tourists?
After weathering the pandemic, Sara Schiller and her business partner decided two weeks ago that they would open their Sloomoo Institute slime store in SoHo every day. Their decision to run an extra three days per week isn’t likely to make them more money since they will be happy to break even on most weekdays […]
Posted inAffordable Housing
De Blasio Bets Legacy on SoHo and Gowanus Overhauls as He Mounts Last Land Stand
City Hall says rezoning the Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods would bring crucial affordable housing, while opponents warn of overcrowding. The projects headline the mayor’s final-year pandemic push to change the face of the city.
Posted inGeorge Floyd Protests
SoHo Bears Signs of Unrest After Night of Looting
SoHo showed the scars Monday morning of another night of protests against police brutality. Local residents and tourists wearing masks stopped to watch workers repair windows of high-end shops and national brands, smashed the night before. SoHo-based fashion designer and store owner Nicolas Petrou ran to his business Sunday night after seeing reports of looting […]
Posted inHousing
Mayor’s Affordable Housing Program Struggles to Integrate New Yorkers by Income
Additional reporting by Graphics By Will Welch and Ann Choi Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. A new City Hall push to break down barriers preventing low-income New Yorkers from living in neighborhoods throughout the city highlights an “obligation to […]
Posted inManhattan
In Ritzy SoHo, a Crusade to Open the Door to Affordable Housing
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. As a knot of outdated development rules in SoHo undergoes a public rethink, affordable housing advocates see an opening to make the richest district in the city more affordable for low-income New Yorkers. The […]