The Department of City Planning announced that it will present to 51 community boards before further action is taken on the Zoning for Quality and Affordability plan introduced in February. The change is a response community opposition from neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs expressed during the comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. In the East Village, the R8B designations south of Tompkins Square Park will increase by 5 feet. The rest of the neighborhood under R7A zoning remains planned to absorb more generous height lifts including a 5-foot increase with the option to build up to 105 feet for affordable senior or Inclusionary Housing.
The contextual zone in the East Village was enacted in 2008 following a three-year community process. The height restrictions help protect existing buildings and the neighborhood scale.
Read the letter from City Planning Chairman Carl Weisbrod in full.
