Information about this lot
Political Boundaries
Why is this lot here?
We posted this lot because:
Government Agency
Urban Renewal
This lot is part of the Marcus Garvey urban renewal plan.
Pathways
News feed
Thanks to amazing organizing by gardeners and supporters, this community space was taken off the list of potential development sites and TRANSFERRED TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT TODAY!
This site was included in a list of sites that developers are being asked to apply to build housing on by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. (see http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/developers/NIHOP-NCP-RFQ.shtml).
The list was published on January 14, 2015 and developers' responses are due on February 20, 2015. The fact that this site was included DOES NOT necessarily mean that housing will be developed here, but it does me that HPD is encouraging housing development and is not likely to consider other uses for the time being. If no one applies for this site, it may again be available in March!
The list and RFQ are products of HPD, under the direction of the Mayor's office. Development is not certain - this is simply a request for developers to apply to become qualified to build in these sites.
This site has been slated for the "homeownership"' program:
1-4 unit homeownership OR
up to 14 unit coop program
with a preference given to developers who propose to have 1/3 of the units going to people making 80-90% of the Area Median Income (AMI; about average income for New Yorkers) and the rest being market-rate or affordable to those making more.
This article sums things up pretty well (and has the voices of folks from across the 596 Acres network): http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150116/morningside-heights/community-gardens-threatened-by-de-blasios-affordable-housing-plan
You can let your City Council member, the mayor's office and HPD know if you have feedback about the program or the selection of this site.
An organization called Project Eats has a license to begin a garden.
You can contact them if you'd like to learn more or get involved:
www.projecteats.org
Project Eats - Active Citizen Project
230 West 39th Street, Suite 705
New York, NY
212-612-1528
This lot is owned by HPD. Visit http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/my_community.jsp to view any open Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the lot.