Members from the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and Lower East Side, of mostly Asian and Latinos, called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to step down for failing to stand up for Asian, African-American and Latino communities from being displaced gathered again today outside City Hall in a group of a couple of hundred.
The plan to rezone a 100-block area of the East Village and part of the Lower East Side came under Mayor Mike Bloomberg back in 2008 which ignited fears in surrounding neighborhoods that development pressure would then, be moved into their communities. The people demanded that Chinatown and the unprotected parts of the Lower East Side also be included in the rezoning. They were proven right — development with what’s being called, “supertall” skyscrapers, is already underway in the Two Bridges section of NYC just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, where an 800-foot-tall building is being constructed by Extell at 227 Cherry St.
The coalition is calling for De Blasio to step down underscores their anger at his Mandatory Inclusionary Housing initiative, a key element of his Affordable Housing Plan passed in March. Under the M.I.H. initiative, developers are allowed to build taller buildings in any part of the city, But rather than a win for affordable housing, coalition members fear the affordable housing initiative will only lead to further luxury development and gentrification of Chinatown, the Lower East Side and other communities of color.
The coalition is angry at De Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing initiative which is a main ingredient of his “Affordable” Housing Plan passed back in March of 2016. According to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing initiative developers are “allowed” to construct higher any where in the city as long as 20 percent of housing are committed to affordable housing.
“De Blasio, step down!” they chanted. “Displacement no more! High rent, no more! Racism, no more!”
