ZONING BATTLE HEATS UP: Rezoning NYC’s garment district — a debate that has been dragging on for decades — is about to intensify significantly. In what appears to be a preemptive strike in advance of Monday’s City Planning Commission meeting, about 40 designers, union leaders and elected officials are planning a press event on the steps of City Hall Friday at noon.
For nearly 200 years, the Midtown West neighborhood has housed the largest concentration of manufacturers, designers and suppliers — the heart of New York City’s garment industry. Those looking to lift the zoning argue that the continued dwindling base of manufacturing (due largely to more affordable overseas production) no longer merits the 1.4 million square feet. In total, the neighborhood has 1 million square feet earmarked for apparel manufacturing and another 1 million set aside for support purposes. Earlier this year New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a $136 million “Made in New York” campus at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park.
Friday’s recommendations have been gleaned from a series of six Garment Center Steering Committee meetings with landlords, tenants, designers, BID officials and various interested parties in the past two or three months. The Council of Fashion
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