A Manhattan judge has delivered Mayor Bill de Blasio a big blow — by striking down his controversial neighborhood rezoning plan for a huge swath of Inwood.
Manhattan Supreme Court judge Verna Saunders nullified the City Council’s August 2018 approval of the controversial plan – siding with residents and small business owners in the northern Manhattan community.
Opponents of the 59-block plan sued the city last December contended the rezoning – which called for injecting $200 million into neighborhood improvements projects – would have “socio-economic consequences” by gentrifying Inwood and driving out longtime residents and business owners who would no longer be able to afford staying there.
Saunders in a ruling issued this week found that the city’s mandatory environmental review process was “incomplete” and failed to properly take into account how the rezoning would affect the neighborhood.
She sent the matter back to Office of the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development — which is run by Vicki Been — to study the issues raised by the coalition that sued, known as “Unified Inwood.”
The city’s Law Department issued a statement saying it “strongly disagree[s]” with this ruling.
“We stand by the city’s thorough environmental review and will challenge this decision so important projects, including the building of 1,600 new affordable homes in this community, can proceed,” the statement read.
But Councilman Francisco Moya (D-Queens), who opposed the plan, credited the opponents before taking their fight to court, saying “Inwood would surely have been turned into something nobody was prepared for.”
Prior to the Council vote in 2018, things got so contentious that Speaker Corey Johnson sounded an alarm over a threat posted on Facebook appearing to target Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents Inwood and whose support for the rezoning was critical. The speaker said the matter was referred to the NYPD.
During the vote in council chambers, a 26-year-old woman stood up in the balcony, threw fake bills into the air and said Rodriguez was a “liar” over promises the plan would spur good-paying jobs. Security guards and NYPD detectives cleared the entire balcony after other community members joined her in decrying the plan.
At least a dozen of the advocates were escorted out of City Hall.
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