New York City Council approves Garment District rezoning

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Dec 22, 2018

City Council announced on Thursday that it will move forward with plans to rezone Midtown Manhattan's Garment District. 

The decision, announced on Thursday, brings an end to a garment industry-protecting policy in place since 1987, which required landlords in the district to devote one square foot of garment space for every square foot converted for other purposes. 

The rezoning effort was supported by organizations like the NYC Economic Development Corporation and the Garment District Alliance, who argued that allowing the area to be open to other businesses and forms of commercial real estate will act as a boost to the area and the city's overall economy. According to information released by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, this restructuring is set to grow jobs in the area from 66,000 to 72,000 by 2021.

The plan will also involve solutions to support the continued success of fashion manufacturers in New York, including plans to create a 200,000-square-foot garment production hub at Sunset Park's Made in NY Campus in Brooklyn. 

As part of Thursday's decision, funding support of some $20 million for a building "dedicated to garment production through a public-private partnership is believed to be in place, and programmatic support of businesses and public realm investments are also in the works," WWD reported from an anonymous source.

While as much as $25 million may be allocated to the support of garment production in the district over the next 10 years, sources expect that only between 200,000 and 270,000 square feet will be reserved for manufacturing in the area. 

Those opposed to the plan, like the Garment Center Steering Committee, worry that the relaxed emphasis on fashion manufacturing's priority in the area will lead to wealthy industries buying up mass amounts of property that manufacturing companies can't afford, damaging New York's fashion community.