Here’s a look at how mainstream news organizations and citywide blogs are reporting last night’s vote to approve the Seward Park redevelopment guidelines. The New York Times:
After sitting fallow for 43 years as the Lower East Side exploded in popularity around it, a desolate stretch of parking lots along Delancey Street is closer than ever to being transformed into housing and shops, potentially marking the end of a long and bitter stalemate over the future of the sites. On Monday night, at a meeting sprinkled with cheers, jeers and catcalls, a Community Board 3 task force voted nearly unanimously in favor of guidelines to develop the five parcels, collectively known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area.
Community members in the Lower East Side are one step closer to approving a plan for several plots of city-owned land that have sat undeveloped for more than 40 years. A committee of the local community board voted in favor of a plan late Monday night that would allow for the construction of 800 to 1,000 units of housing, commercial space and possibly a school and a theater. Half of the housing units would be set aside for affordable housing. The full community board votes on the proposal Tuesday night.
Over 40 years after many Lower East Side homes were bulldozed at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge in the name of urban renewal, community representatives have finally agreed on a plan to replace them… Things are looking good, as the proposal has picked up the endorsement of powerful Assembly Speaker and local-boy-made-good Sheldon Silver, who has traditionally steered clear of this class war. If the full board approves the guidelines, then it’s on to the city’s review, which could change things around and result in even more negotiations. It’s been 40 years, so what’s a few more?
A broad development plan to revitalize a long-fallow swath of the Lower East Side was approved by a local community board commitee Monday night… Community Board 3’s land use committee spent the past three years crafting development guidelines it believed represented the diverse interests of the community, culminating in Monday’s near-unanimous vote… “It’s a testament to us building off our success with the [2008] East Village rezoning and really developing relationships and trust with all the different constituencies,” CB 3 chairman Dominic Pisciotta said after the meeting, adding that the various parties had to “get out of their comfort zones” for the plan to pass.
