Cohen takes stand against rezoning plan

After months of publicly wavering on a major city initiative to rezone large swaths of his district to accommodate new affordable housing units, northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen now says he is against the plan.

He articulated his opposition to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposals — which include raising the height limit on senior affordable housing and reducing parking requirements at such buildings — in terms of Community Board (CB) 8’s 197-a plan, which was published several years ago with the aim of preserving the character of Riverdale.

“They have the 197-a plan that was developed locally and went through the local community board,” Mr. Cohen said. “It reflects local desire of the way the community should be zoned. Anything that undermines this, I have serious concerns about.”

By taking a critical stance of the mayor’s Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQR) proposal, the councilman joins local state politicians who opposed the initiative from the start. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and state Sen. Jeff Klein were quick to slam the plan as likely to cause overcrowding and harm quality of life here.

“I think we all agree,” said Mr. Cohen. “I think that I was slow to articulate my concerns.”

The councilman’s initial reluctance to oppose the ZQR plan, as well as an accompanying proposal to require a number of affordable housing units in new buildings in some neighborhoods, drew criticism from a number of community members. After the Department of City Planning (DCP) released a draft of its rezoning plans earlier this year, Mr. Cohen said he would have to wait until the proposal was in legislative form to take a stance.

“I am puzzled and dismayed by Councilman Andrew Cohen’s decision to ‘wait until the legislation comes out’ before he decides to support or to oppose the rezoning proposal. By the time that the proposed legislation is presented to the City Council, it will be more difficult to change those parts of the plan which will negatively impact our community (and communities all over New York City),” Vivian J. Oleen wrote in a Sept. 3 letter to The Press.