Marc Bussanich
Inwood is the fifth neighborhood where the de Blasio administration is spearheading a rezoning as part of the mayor’s larger affordable housing plan. The proposal, sponsored by the Economic Development Corporation, is currently making its way through the seven-month public review process through which a rezoning becomes law. It would allow increased residential and commercial development in several areas, including a required portion of income-targeted housing under the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing policy, and would also come with a package of investments in the neighborhood’s services, infrastructure, and housing.
Many residents, however, are concerned about the impact the rezoning could have on the neighborhood’s infrastructure and its potential to exacerbate gentrification and the displacement of current residents and businesses. The mandatory inclusionary housing policy does not require units for households making below $24,500 for a family of three, who make up 28 percent of Inwood’s population.
On February 10, City Limits toured areas within each of the five different sections of the rezoning and along the way spoke with residents, activists, and property owners to hear their opinions on the proposal. Check out our earlier video tours of the proposed Jerome Avenue rezoning area here and here.
The tour’s first destination are the commercial streets—Dyckman, Broadway, and West 207—that EDC calls “The Commercial U,” followed by a stretch of 10th avenue and Broadway that EDC calls “The Upland Wedge.” From there, we go to the “Tip of Manhattan,” the northern portion of the island east of Broadway. Next, we headed to see the residential streets EDC calls the “Upland Core”, and finally, over to “Sherman Creek,” the area east of 10th Avenue and south of the railyards. With the exception of the residential blocks in the “Upland Core,” the proposal would allow increased development in all these areas, with the most substantial development along the waterfront.
Please join us as we view the landscape of Inwood today and consider its future—and don’t forget to bring your umbrella.
See a detailed, mapped breakdown of the rezoning areas in our Spanish and English newsletter, here. Community members will have a chance to weigh in on the proposal at a public hearing to be held by Community Board 12 that will take place this Thursday, February 22, 6:30 pm at I.S. 52, 650 Academy Street.