[chris08876]

Affordable housing and the the decline of manufacturing zones:
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De Blasio says 'vision' on NY manufacturing is coming

Deviating from his prepared remarks at an Association for a Better New York breakfast Thursday, Mr. de Blasio addressed a Crain's editorial and a Crain's Morning Insider item Thursday reporting that a plan for the city's embattled industrial zones would not be part of the speech.

"I know there was a piece in Crain's today about this administration's view about manufacturing," Mr. de Blasio said. "We're going to have a lot more to say about that in the very near future."

Many industrial business owners argue they've waited long enough for City Hall to articulate how it plans to protect them from encroaching housing, hotel and other nonindustrial development. They say the mayor's crusade to build 80,000 units of affordable housing and 120,000 market-rate apartments, combined with a hotel boom and other business ventures in their midst, is driving up rents and land prices in manufacturing zones.

Among their complaints is that city economic-development programs are geared toward helping them expand rather than just remain. But space to expand is nearly impossible to come by, they say, while opportunities to leave are abundant, and those who don't own their buildings risk being booted by their landlords.
Mr. de Blasio promised to address this dilemma in the near term.

"We regard manufacturing as a crucial piece of our economy," he said. "And as adamant as I am about creating and preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing, and as much as I know that will mean some areas that used to be manufacturing, areas that are underutilized or not utilized at all at this point, will be areas for housing, there are other parts of the city that are great manufacturing centers and need to remain so. There are areas where we can expand greatly the manufacturing activities."
He added, "We're going to lay out that vision."

Directing his comments to advocates who have called for City Hall to double down on its commitment to protect industrial zones, the mayor said, "Rest assured, it's a big part of our plan."

Prior to those comments, Mr. de Blasio touched on the type of manufacturing he seemed to prefer: light and high-tech manufacturing, essentially the type that requires less physical space than many current manufacturers need and can in some cases co-exist with housing. He praised 3-D printers and food producers whose businesses were growing in the city.

Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the Long Island City Partnership, said she took solace in the mayor's comments.

"We were greatly encouraged by the Mayor’s remarks today on manufacturing," she said. "LIC has within it the thriving industrial activity that he mentioned, and we very much look forward to hearing his plans to expand this crucial sector."

The City Council, led by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, is aiming to force the mayor's hand on the topic by issuing legislation soon to "protect industrial space and support growth in the city's traditional manufacturing sectors," as she put it in her State of the City speech last month.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ring-is-coming