Local community board split on Industry City’s application to expand
Community Board 7 members voted on Wednesday to disapprove two of four proposed actions on Industry City’s expansion unless at least 82 conditions are met by both Industry City and city and state agencies.
The board voted “no” with conditions on the applicant’s request for a zoning special permit and for the de-mapping of 40th Street. They offered no recommendation, however, on the request for a newly mapped “special Industry City District” and for the creation of special district zoning text, since neither position won a majority.
Of the 82 conditions put forward by six of the board’s committees, 43 are for Industry City and 39 are for city and state agencies. Among the conditions directed at Industry City were better access to the waterfront and safer pedestrian streetscapes on public and private blocks adjacent to the complex; among those directed at city and state agencies was a request that the Landmarks Preservation Commission consider whether the complex’s Finger Buildings, which were the former Bush Terminal warehouses, should be designated as city landmarks or receive State and National Historic Register status.
If a city or state agency were unable to meet some of the community board’s conditions, then in some cases, the onus would fall on the applicant. For example, the board asked that the city’s Housing Preservation and Development department fund an affordable housing analysis one year after the rezoning. If HPD cannot meet that deadline, however, Industry City would then be required to fund the report itself.