Council Votes to Rezone West Side Rail Yards
New York, NY —
The City Council has approved rezoning part of the West Side Rail Yards, where Mayor Bloomberg once wanted to put a football stadium. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman reports.
REPORTER: The rezoning calls for a cluster of skyscrapers, up to 70 stories tall or higher, interspersed with five acres of open space. All of that would go between 30th and 33rd streets, between 11th Avenue and the Hudson River.
The scale is similar to what the owner, the MTA proposed two years ago. But in the last few weeks, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who represents the area, was able to wring out promises for 1300 affordable apartments to be built or preserved.
Some of them will be located on the rail yards, most of them elsewhere on Manhattan's West Side. Some of them will be paid for by the developer, the Related Companies, others with city tax money, and 263 units depend on the federal government agreeing to fund them. For WNYC, I'm Matthew Schuerman.
REPORTER: The Related Companies expects construction to begin in 2011 and last for 10 years.
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