A new bill would force the city to confront the racial impact of development
New York City housing advocates’ ongoing fight against displacement and gentrification took a step forward yesterday, when Public Advocate Jumaane Williams introduced a bill that would force the city to confront the racial and ethnic impacts of neighborhood rezonings.
The bill, Intro 1572, would demand that the Department of City Planning conduct “racial impact studies” as it considers rezonings.
Rezoning deliberations currently revolve around the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — aka ULURP, the process that determines how land can be used in New York City — and the Environmental Impact Statement — aka EIS, which evaluates the effects of those uses on the surround area.