Menchaca gives Industry City tight deadline to revise expansion plan
SUNSET PARK — Councilmember Carlos Menchaca sent a letter Tuesday evening to Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball, formally asking him to commit in writing — by Thursday — to abandon his current rezoning application and revise it with the modifications outlined at Monday’s contentious meeting.
“My main finding is that the current rezoning application before the City Planning Commission is a non-starter,” Menchaca wrote. “It will exacerbate gentrification, displacement, and rising rents; leave the community unprepared for climate change; and fail to preserve or strengthen the manufacturing and industrial character of the waterfront.”
The politician said on Monday that he would “never, ever” allow Industry City’s current rezoning proposal to move forward unless the developers first concede to a set of rigid conditions, and the Mayor’s Office and City Council then increase investment into Sunset Park.