Parts of Sunset Park still oppose new zoning proposed by Industry City

Since the City Planning Commission stated it will recommend approval of the Industry City rezoning proposal on Wednesday, one local group who opposes the zoning change has charged that their voice is not being heard.

Members of the group Protect Sunset Park discussed the latest decision in a press release about the ongoing pursuit of zoning changes on the massive adjacent waterfront space.

“Today the City Planning Commission turned their backs on Sunset Park by prioritizing a rezoning plan that threatens to displace the backbone of our immigrant community,” said Antoinette Martinez, a lifelong Sunset Park resident and organizer of Protect Sunset Park. “We will continue to fight for the soul of Sunset Park and for every NYC neighborhood pushing to promote racial equity in land use decisions. We welcome City Council members to join us in the fight to dismantle NYCs racist land review process by voting against Industry City’s application.”

Despite Councilmember Carlos Menchaca’s decision to say no to the rezoning plan that would increase Industry City’s total usable space from 5.3 to 6.6 million square feet, the proposal received a major boost by the City Planning Commission vote.

CPC Commissioner David Burey was the only one during the vote that opposed it.

“This just diminishes the role of the community review process, it side steps the work of the community board and of the local elected officials who represent that community,.” he said.

Community activist and Sunset Park resident Jorge Muniz made more vociferous charges

Against the mayor and City Council speaker Corey Johnson: “This racist rezoning seeks to replace opportunities for our working-class communities of color on the industrial waterfront with consumers of inessential luxury retail and corporate office space.” said Muñiz.  “Speaker Corey Johnson and Mayor Bill de Blasio could be working together to publicly plan our waterfront’s future instead of abandoning it to private interests.”

On Tuesday, August 19, Mayor Bill de Blasio found confrontation as he visited Sunset Park to check on COVID-19 testing. A resident asked him to sign a petition that the resident claimed had signatures of over 4,000 Sunset Park residents opposing the rezoning proposal. De Blasio told the individual he would look over plans for the massive waterfront space, however he didn’t commit to signing the petition.

But the group Protect Sunset Park remains adamant that the mayor and the city are ignoring them.

“CPC commissioners turned their backs on Sunset Park by prioritizing a rezoning plan that threatens to displace the backbone of our immigrant community, but we will continue to fight for the soul of Sunset Park and for every NYC neighborhood pushing to promote racial equity in land use decisions,” the group also wrote on its Facebook page.

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