NYCEDC

Oct
12

Historic Passage of Mixed-Use Development Plan for Seward Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side

Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn announced the historic passage of the Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Plan, which will transform more than six acres of underutilized land on the Lower East Side into vibrant, mixed-use space in one of New York’s most dynamic, diverse and historic neighborhoods.

Unanimously approved by both the City Council and Manhattan’s Community Board 3, the Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Plan grew out of an unprecedented level of grassroots community leadership, consensus building, and partnership with the City. The guidelines for the plan were forged over the past four years, with monthly meetings led by the Community Board, in coordination with a team of representatives from the Bloomberg administration, in order to come to a consensus on this historic plan.

As a result of this extensive collaboration, sites that have largely sat vacant for more than four decades – the largest parcel of under-developed City-owned land in Manhattan below 96th Street – will finally be reintegrated into the vital, urban fabric of the Lower East Side. Located along Delancey and Essex Streets, the nine sites will be transformed into 1.65 million square feet of permanently affordable and market-rate housing, commercial space, and new open space, with the potential for a school and other community space. The development will create approximately 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction jobs.