Proposal for a Special Zoning District to Preserve Chinatown and the Lower East Side

With the assistance of CCPD, the Coalition to Preserve Chinatown and Lower East Side developed a proposal for a special zoning district. The plan has been endorsed by many other community groups. Its purpose is to protect the neighborhood from super-sized luxury residential and hotel development and preserve existing affordable housing and small businesses.

The need for a community-based zoning plan arose when the Coalition challenged the proposed 111-block rezoning of the East Village and Lower East Side in 2008. CCPD prepared an analysis and critique of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for that rezoning. The analysis identifies flaws in the DEIS methodology and conclusions, and shows the potential disparate impacts of the proposed rezoning on low-income, working class residents and people of color who live in and around the study area, in Chinatown, the Bowery, the Lower East Side and NYCHA public housing.

CCPD prepared an analysis/critique of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that was issued in 2008 by the New York City Department of City Planning for a proposed 111-block rezoning of the East Village and Lower East Side. This would be the third largest rezoning since the city's adoption of the 1961 Zoning Resolution. The analysis identifies several important flaws in the DEIS methodology and conclusions, especially in regard to the potential disparate impacts of the proposed rezoning on low-income, working class residents and people of color who live in and around the study area. The rezoning would impact neighboring communities in Chinatown, the Bowery, the Lower East Side and NYCHA public housing, all of which are experiencing tremendous development pressures in spite of the troubled housing market.