TESTIMONY
George Havernick on the City of New York's zoning plan
6:47:38
·
108 sec
George Havernick criticizes New York City's proposed zoning plan as too assertive and aggressive for the city's diverse neighborhoods.
- Havernick argues that the plan is a "one glove fits all" approach that does not account for the diversity of New York City's neighborhoods and communities.
- He believes the plan will negatively impact low-density communities and take away their quality of life and "slice of suburbia."
- Havernick suggests the plan could be perceived as a form of "constructive eviction" for some residents.
- He urges the City Council to rethink the plan and come up with an alternative that is more of a "city of yes" rather than a "city of mass."
George Havernick
6:47:38
Good evening, council member.
6:47:40
Can you hear me?
Kevin C. Riley
6:47:41
Yes.
6:47:41
I can hear you, George.
George Havernick
6:47:42
It's good to see you again, Shannon Riley.
6:47:45
Excuse my video.
6:47:46
It's not working.
6:47:47
I'm sorry for that, although that might be beneficial to others.
6:47:52
Anyway, this plan is much to assertive and aggressive.
6:47:58
We live in a very diverse, diverse city, and you're putting a blanket over something that really is more warranted of a sort of a patchwork quilt.
6:48:09
I mean, each neighborhood, each community would should be dissected to see what would fit and what doesn't fit because this one glove fits all plan just is not going to pass muster.
6:48:22
The the point is that we have a very, very diverse population in New York.
6:48:28
And we should also have a very diverse, diverse living environment.
6:48:33
Because what's happening here, we're going to be taking away from the low density communities.
6:48:40
We're going to be taking away quality of life.
6:48:42
And then Slice of Suburbia, which is sort of suburban life inside city environments, is going to be gone.
6:48:50
In some cases, we could say some people are going to perceive this as a form of constructive eviction.
6:48:57
And I urge all of the council members to please really rethink this.
6:49:01
Maybe go back to the drawing board and give us something else to ponder because this particular plan, like I said, too aggressive, too assertive.
6:49:11
Maybe you could do something else, and maybe we could come up with something that would be a real city of yes, instead of this, which to me is just a city of mass.
6:49:20
I thank you, and I urge you all please.
6:49:23
Voting out to this plan.
6:49:25
Have a good night.
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Eileen Miller, Board Member of the Bayside Hill Civic Association, on the negative impacts of the City of Yes zoning text amendments on residential neighborhoods in Queens
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Mario Buonviaggio, Vice President of the Port Richmond/North Shore Alliance, on opposition to the entirety of the proposed City of Yes zoning text amendments