[sparkling]

Northern Manhattan rail yard eyed for housing, tech

ANDREW J. HAWKINS
MARCH 24, 2015

A little more than a month after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an ambitious (and surely expensive) plan to build 70,000 apartments on top of the Sunnyside Yard in Queens, a Manhattan councilman is eyeing another active rail yard for housing construction.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez proposed Sunday to rezone a 100-acre "manufacturing area" in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood and transform it into a "technology community," complete with residential, commercial and retail development.

He would put most of the housing above the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 207th Street rail yard.

Decking over an active rail yard is an expensive proposition; at Hudson Yards in western Manhattan, it is costing $700 million. But in an interview with Crain's Monday, Mr. Rodriguez said some of the expense could be defrayed if the MTA would sell its air rights to the city.

"If the city is able to work with the MTA and build above the rail yard, it will help us to bring more revenue for transportation, and also using the air rights in that location," he said.

Any proposal to build above the 207th Street yard, which is bordered by 10th Avenue to the east, the Harlem River to the west, 207th and 215th streets, would have to go through Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who already dismissed Mr. de Blasio's plan to build housing at Sunnyside Yards.

The mayor's office insists that despite the governor's reticence, it continues to talk to the MTA about Sunnyside. A feasibility study was ordered last month to determine the cost of the massive project. The economics of affordable housing are already challenging without the additional expense of building over an active rail yard, experts say.

The 207th Street yard serves the C, A and No. 1 trains. It also stores cars that are being retired and either scrapped or restored for the New York Transit Museum.

A spokesman for the mayor said of the Inwood proposal, "We applaud [Councilman] Rodriguez' leadership. We look forward to working with his office and the community to bring much-needed affordable housing and economic development opportunities to this vibrant neighborhood."
A spokesman for the MTA declined to comment.

Inwood, perched on the northernmost tip of Manhattan, isn't on Mr. de Blasio's list of neighborhoods to rezone for denser, taller housing. But Mr. Rodriguez is undeterred. In his speech Sunday, which was attended by Kyle Kimball, president of the city's Economic Development Corp., Mr. Rodriguez said he envisions a mixed-use community spearheaded by large institutions like CUNY and New York Presbyterian, and attractive to some of the world's most recognizable tech companies.

"Imagine having our very own marketplace for technological innovations, creating an environment that will attract advanced research and partners such as Google, Apple or Facebook," he said. "Yes! We will make this dream a reality."

Mr. Rodriguez's plan may also encounter opposition from manufacturing and industrial businesses, which are increasingly feeling pinched by Mr. de Blasio's crusade to build 240,000 units of market-rate and affordable housing over the next decade. Many business owners say the mayor's plan, a hotel boom and other commercial ventures is driving up rents and land prices in manufacturing zones.

The councilman said his plan is unlikely to encounter resistance within the proposed area, if only because there are "not many things happening there right now." In addition to the rail yard, it has a beer distributor, a supermarket and a handful of nightlife lounges and restaurants.
"No one has to be displaced from the area," Mr. Rodriguez said. "It can be a win-win situation."