Now that the City Planning commission has passed the Dock Street rezoning proposal, the discussion heads to the City Council, where Councilman Tony Avella of Queens, who chairs the zoning and franchises committee, will oversee the first council hearing.
(Update: here’s a link to the city’s full explanation of the whole process)
While council members typically vote the way of the district’s councilman, Avella has made it clear on several occasions that he will vote against the project anyway. Councilman David Yassky opposes the project too, of course, but Avella had no shortage of feelings about the project when we checked in with him this morning:
“In no circumstances am I going to support a project that ruins the view of the bridge or from the bridge. We’d have to be incredibly stupid as a city to do that. For the sake of development, to destroy the panoramic view of not only a city landmark but a national treasure is just absurd.”
He doesn’t know how his committee will vote, but “it will be interesting to see how this plays out,” he said. While Yassky and Councilman Bill DeBlasio oppose the project, Councilwoman Letitia James has made clear that she supports it. [pdf]
Check with the City Council’s calendar for the hearing date, and we’ll keep you posted as well. After the zoning and franchise committee, the council’s land use committee will vote — and then it goes to the full Council.
