There will be Blood
New York Blood Center gets through one of City Council’s toughest hurdles despite the local council member’s opposition; does this victory signal the end of member deference?
Today, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use approved the New York Blood Center project, with modifications, thereby parting with the long-standing tradition of councilmember deference: a policy where council members defer to the opinion of the local councilmember on a land use project located in the local councilmember’s district. The project will have to get through a full City Council vote before it is enacted.
Rendering/DBOX/ENNEAD ARCHITECTS
The New York Blood Center, located at 310 East 67th Street in Manhattan, seeks to replace its existing three-story building (originally built in the 1930s as a trade school) with a tower that would house the Blood Center, as well as lease spaces to life science companies.
The proposed project was originally slated to be 334 feet tall; however, opponents of the project cited concerns that the tower would cast a shadow across St. Catherine’s Park. On October 20, 2021, the developers reduced the height of the tower to 276 feet, which resulted predominantly in the reduction of mechanical space (as opposed to research and lab space).
In addition to concerns of shadows, opponents also cited concerns that the rezoning takes place in the midblock of a residential neighborhood, and further, that Blood Center would only occupy the bottom third of the building, resulting in the remaining space being leased out to private companies.
However, mere moments before the Subcommittee’s hearing, the City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer, Council Members Francisco Moya, Rafael Salamanca, and Keith Powers announced that they had struck a deal: the tower would be reduced in height by over 100 feet, the project would include additional funding for St. Catherine’s Park and the Julia Richman Educational Complex, and the project would include to ensure that a tower of this size could only be used for life science research. Therefore, the resulting tower will be 233 feet tall, the bottom third will house the New York Blood Center, and the remainder would be leased to life science companies.
While it is not necessarily unique that a rezoning facing opposition is ultimately approved, it is very unique for a rezoning to be approved when the local councilmember is against it. The practice, known as “member deference” has killed many projects before. The last time member deference was ignored was in 2009, when the City Council approved a mixed-use project in Dumbo, Brooklyn, over the objections of local council member David Yassky.
That said, member deference has been seriously called into question over the past several years. (For example, see here, and here, and here . . . and here). Many may be wondering, is this finally the end of member deference?
The approval of this project in the face of local council member’s vocal opposition is shocking in some respects, but ultimately, it may simply be a natural response to the problems the City, as a whole, faces. Rezonings often do not only impact the neighborhood the project is located in, but instead are felt City-wide. For instance, new affordable housing built in one neighborhood alleviates the strain on other neighborhoods to provide the same, and decreases the pressures felt across the City as a whole that are a result of an under-supply of affordable housing stock. Likewise, a project that brings new jobs to one neighborhood, naturally, mitigates some of the pressure felt in other neighborhoods to supply the same.
This idea that City-wide needs supersede member deference, was expressed by a number of councilmembers. For example, Council Member Vanessa Gibson stated that while she supports member deference, the Blood Center’s approval would be felt City-wide:
I need a little bit more than shadows over a park and construction noise, I want substance. I want you to tell me how you can save the lives of my people who have been devastated by Covid-19. (CM Gibson)
Council Member Gibson was not alone in expressing this sentiment. Council Member Rafael Salamanca, ahead of the hearings today, stated:
It’s hard to tell a nonprofit that saves lives, to say no to them, when they’re trying to increase their capacity and their research for New Yorkers. It’s hard to tell them no when your only argument is you’re concerned about the shadows in your community. (CM Salamanca)
Whether member deference stays or goes will not be decided solely by this project, but with a new administration and a large number of new council members taking the reins come January, it will certainly be an interesting issue to keep watching!
Sources:
Poblete, G. (November 10, 2021). What's the deal with the New York Blood Center? City & State NY. https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2021/11/whats-deal-new-york-blood-center/186750/.
Garber, N. (October 20, 2021). Blood center hearing: New concessions, but opposition holds firm. Upper East Side, NY Patch. https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/blood-center-hearing-new-concessions-opposition-holds-firm.
Deal reached in Blood Center Rezoning Clash. Spectrum News NY1. (November 10, 2021). https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/11/10/blood-center-latest.
Garber, N. ( November 10, 2021). Blood center rezoning deal is reached, City Council Leaders Say. Upper East Side, NY Patch. https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/blood-center-rezoning-deal-reached-city-council-leaders-say.
Kaufman, M. (November 9, 2021). The Big Business of Blood. Crain's New York Business. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-care/big-business-blood.
Brenzel, K. (November 10, 2021). Bad Blood: City Council Approves Project in Rare Break with Custom. The Real Deal New York. https://therealdeal.com/2021/11/10/bad-blood-city-council-approves-project-in-rare-break-with-custom/.
City Council's Zoning Subcommittee and Committee on Land Use approves the New York Blood Center project, Bucking member deference, and approves the Gowanus rezoning; City Council's Zoning Subcommittee holds a hearing on the soho/noho rezoning. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. https://www.stroock.com/news-and-insights/city-council-approves-gowanus-rezoning-and-the-new-york-blood-center-project-city-councils-zoning-subcommittee-holds-hearings-on-the-soho-noho-rezoning.
