City Council Committee Approves Brooklyn Rezoning

New York, NY —

The Bloomberg administration's plan to rezone 175 blocks in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn will likely become a reality. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports the City Council's Land Use Committee has voted to approve it.

The agreement between councilmembers and the mayor increased affordable housing by 10 percent which means about 35-hundred units out of just over 10-thousand are expected to be cheaper than market rate. But some residents say developers will still be allowed to build 40 story buildings that are out of scale with the rest of the area. Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff defended that decision

DOCTOROFF: We've wrestled with the issue of height alot. Everybody has wrestled with the issue of height and the truth of the matter is without the height you don't get the affordable housing.

Developers will be allowed to create 32 stories of market rate apartments. They can go 8 stories higher if they build affordable housing and they can dip into a 10 million dollar fund that will help them pay for an esplanade. The esplanade will be run by the parks department to ensure the public has access to it. The full council is expected to vote on the rezoning plan next week.

For WNYC: I'm Cindy Rodriguez