The City Council subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises last week voted to approve the rezoning of the Bay Street Corridor on Staten Island. “The Bay Street Neighborhood Plan will create a more affordable neighborhood that opens the doors of opportunity to residents from all walks of life,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio after the vote.
“This is about making sure kids who grow up on Staten Island can eventually have an apartment in the borough they love, and about making sure there’s affordable and accessible housing for Staten Island seniors, so they can live independently as they age.
“This subcommittee vote is the first step in bringing more open space, jobs, 1,300 affordable homes, infrastructure improvements and more to Bay Street. ”
The plan rezones 20 blocks of Staten Island’s North Shore and could lead to the creation of 1,800 new units of housing, including 1,300 income-targeted apartments. The city has promised $250 million in local investments.
The City Council Land Use subcommittee voted 6 to 0 for the rezoning proposal at its meeting last week, clearing the ground for what will be the de Blasio administration’s sixth neighborhood rezoning.
City planners project the rezoning will spur the development 1,800 new apartments — up to 673 set aside at below-market-rate rents — to house 6,500 residents on the corridor, which is currently zoned for mostly manufacturing uses. It would also include a new Cromwell Recreation Center on the waterfront and a community center at Tompkinsville’s Lyons Pool complex, 2 acres of waterfront esplanade, new sewer infrastructure, streetscape improvements, and two new schools.
