No Land Grab

City Council Fast-Tracks Columbia Plan

Vote Slated for December 19th

NEW YORK, NY-Last week, Councilmember Tony Avella ended the lengthy public hearing on re-zoning plans for Manhattanville by calling upon the City Council to move deliberately and use all the time allotted to it under ULURP. It should not rush to vote on Columbia's 197-c proposal or Community Board 9's 197-a development plan. His words seem to have been in vain as the full City Council is said to be ready to vote this Wednesday, December 19.

Avella chairs the Zoning & Franchises Sub-Committee and last week's hearing was held jointly with the Planning, Dispositions & Concessions Sub-Committee chaired by Councilmember Daniel Garodnick. These are both sub-committees of the Land Use Committee.

The City Council has 50 days under ULURP to consider the proposed plans. That clock started ticking when the City Planning Commission voted on the plans on November 26.

A staff member at Avella's office confirmed that Zoning & Franchises had met yesterday but had not passed the matter on to the Land Use Committee as yet. In spite of this, he said there is a move to speed up the Council vote and it would very likely happen this week.

Fast-tracking the vote does not allow for thoughtful consideration of the two plans or for modifications to protect neighborhood historic buildings. One week is not enough time to take the many hours of public testimony into account in these deliberations.

The 197a plan should be restored because its current modified form was only created at the behest of City Planning. The original contains a long list of buildings to be researched further for possible landmarking. At a bare minimum the 197c plan should only be approved if modified so that Prentis Hall, the Studebaker Building and the Sheffield Farms Stable are landmarked.

The Manhattanville Preservation Alliance is a neighborhood-based organization that seeks to identify, document, and designate historic structures in west Harlem. Manhattanville is undergoing major changes that will dramatically change the face of the neighborhood for those of us who live, work, and own businesses here. Our aim is to ensure that vital connections to the past are retained, through the preservation, re-use, and rehabilitation of the historic buildings that define the character of our neighborhood.