Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Race and rezoning

The area protected by this EV/LES rezoning is overwhelmingly white. The areas excluded from the rezoning are overwhelmingly ethnic Chinese or Latino. Makes you wonder.

Every area adjacent to those ethnic Chinese and Latino neighborhoods is getting the rezoning's largest luxury bulk (building size) allowances -- Avenue D, Pitt Street and Chrystie Street -- inviting development and facing those communities with gentrification. Still wondering?

The Department of City Planning's intent is clear: the ethnic cleansing of Manhattan.

It's an ugly accusation. But we all know it's true.

TOWN HALL ON LES REZONING
Monday, May 12, 6:30pm,
Public School 20,
166 Essex Street
(btwn Houston & Stanton)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your post is the lowest of low that you could possibly go. Claiming that the rezoning is racist is a total farce and completely slimy accusation. You should be disgusted with yourself.

The rezoning has been a PUBLIC process that began in 2005 that ws publicized in multiple languages through out the community. There have been numerous times for the public to comment.

This group is showing up 3 years too late. Just because they did not take advantage of 3 years of public comment period, they are now screaming Racism and you are supporting their claim.

You are disgusting and an opportunist.

This group is claiming racism because their neighborhood was left out of the rezoning and they want their neighborhood to also be rezoned.

You dont want the rezoning to happen at all and are only promoting thier claims of racism to stop the whole process.

If there neighborhood was also being rezoned you would be against them.

rob said...

The city's intent is pretty clear. We've seen it in the Harlem plan. The tool is economic, but the effect is racial.

As I say, it is an ugly accusation, but everyone knows it's true of this city's administration.

The city's ugly design, btw, should not be confused with our *community board's* intent. As I said to the Observer -- and was quoted on this, you can read it yourself -- the CB's motivations were not racial. The CB was simply not thinking about the consequences for Chinatown. The blame for this lack of foresight rests pretty clearly with Alan Gerson. The CB members are volunteers; Gerson is being paid to protect the public. Chinatown and the Bowery are in his district.