It's official, Mayor Eric Adams is toasting the City Planning Commission's thumbs-up for the Midtown South Mixed-Use (MSMX) Plan. What we're looking at is about 9,700 new homes sprouting up across Midtown South, a New York chunk that's been pretty starved for housing options because of outmoded industrial zoning, states the NYC Mayor's Office.
Setting aside up to 2,900 of these units for affordable housing labels the project not only massive but also mindful of the city's diversity. Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, a term usually tossed around at urban planning meetups, will be applied to this neighborhood for the first go-around, and, to patch up the public spaces, there's talk of a mixed bag of improvements to sew together a "vibrant, 24/7 neighborhood." Mayor Adams likened the MMCX Plan to bringing the vision of 100,000 new homes sprawling across Manhattan into sharper focus, according to the NYC Mayor's Office. He imagined a New York City “as the best place to raise a family.”
Dan Garodnick, DCP Director, and CPC Chair, didn't shy away from the praise either. With a proper mix of commercial and housing bits in one locale, Mr. Garodnick is banking on this being a renaissance moment for Midtown South, especially as the pandemic left it a bit worse for wear. Echoing this, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrion, Jr., pointed out that building "a little more housing in each neighborhood," including Midtown South can be key to tackling the city's housing squeeze, the NYC Mayor's Office reported.
The devil seems to be in the zoning details here. MSMX is rolling out new zoning districts R11 and R12 that crank up the density meter with higher "floor-to-area ratios" (FAR) of 15 and 18, respectively. Adams stuck the landing by convincing Albany bigwigs to ditch old FAR caps, a move that's set to more than double the number of homes on the planners’ drawing boards. Apparently, this rejigging also opens the door to swapping corporate cubicles for cozy apartments, another move to address the housing itch, via the NYC Mayor's Office.
The next stop after the City Planning Commission's green light is the New York City Council, where it'll strut its stuff in a public hearing and vote scenario. Meanwhile, for those playing catch-up on the particulars of MSMX, a comprehensive FAQ got rolled out, no doubt to lay to rest rampant rumors and furnish the facts. All these steps and strategies hint at the Adams administration's commitment to a housing-friendlier New York, underscored by the colossal, completed projects as proof of that pledge, according to the NYC Mayor's Office.
Speaking of commitment, New York's bigwigs are all smiling ear to ear about this new direction. Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, celebrated the cut-in-red-tape that's been a barrier for too long, saying the MSMX plan "opens the door to new housing opportunities, including much-needed affordable housing." Kathryn Wylde, the top boss at Partnership for New York City, is betting on the project to be transformative, envisaging the bump it'll bring to the city's fashion and arts scene. The Garment District Alliance's head, Barbara Blair, went on record underscoring the boost this would give to the area's street life, helping the Garment District emerge from its cocoon, the NYC Mayor's Office relayed.
