Bill to help the housing insecure could make industrial zones more manufacturing insecure

 

BRKLNR 

 State lawmakers are considering legislation to increase the city’s affordable housing stock, but groups who represent Brooklyn’s working waterfront say it could unintentionally cost the city industrial jobs.

The bill, called the “Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act,” looks to allow the state to purchase and acquire distressed commercial real estate, like office buildings and hotels, which it would then sell or transfer to entities that would “guarantee affordable, habitable, and environmentally sustainable housing to asset-limited, low-income individuals and families.”

The proposal was introduced in the State Senate earlier this month by Queens State Senator Michael Gianaris, and comes in the context of a coronavirus-driven shift to remote work that has left many office buildings half-empty as well as a historic drop in tourism that has devastated the hotel industry. 

The measure has support from both advocates like VOCAL-NY and the Legal Aid Society, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie recently signaled support for the proposal. Governor Andrew Cuomo also put forward a similar idea during his State of the State address in January, though Gianaris has criticized the governor’s proposal as offering insufficient requirements for affordable housing.

But groups that represent the city’s Industrial Business Zones (IBZs) fear the legislation, along with another bill that would permit the conversion of class B hotels to permanent residencies, could prompt residential growth in areas primarily set aside for manufacturing, making them less hospitable for industrial businesses whose jobs they say the city desperately needs.

“We understand the pandemic has been awful for low-income communities and particularly for the homeless,” said Leah Archibald, executive director of the Evergreen Exchange, which supports industrial businesses in North Brooklyn. “We agree it’s necessary to engage in creative solutions to address this crisis. But we’re really concerned about the potential for unintended consequences.”

In the decade preceding the pandemic, hotel development expanded rapidly in the city’s light manufacturing zoning districts (M1 zones), driven in part by rapid growth in tourism and the relative permissiveness of the M1 zoning framework (some of those hotels have also been used as homeless shelters).

From 2005 to 2015, the city lost about 18% of its industrial space to residential and commercial uses, according to numbers cited by the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC). That loss prompted fears that hotels would crowd out manufacturing businesses, which some elected officials argued offer higher-paying jobs and upward mobility to workers without college degrees.

In late 2018, the City Council controversially approved legislation that required a special permit to build new hotels within M1 districts, which has essentially halted hotel growth in those areas. A similar restriction on self-storage units in Industrial Business Zones was approved earlier that year. 

But about 13% of the city’s existing hotel rooms are already in M1 districts, and representatives for manufacturing businesses worry those hotels, as well as commercial office spaces, are ripe for residential conversion.

Permitting the conversion of office and hotel space into permanent housing “would have a particularly harmful effect on industrial areas, where the bulk of class B and C office space and hotels of this relatively small size are located,” SBIDC wrote in a template letter that it is encouraging member businesses to send to elected officials.

Given the needs of the city to facilitate an equitable recovery, the letter reads, “any further loss would signal to the market that the city’s Industrial Business Zones are unprotected, open to speculators, and would represent a permanent loss to the stock of industrial real estate and jobs.”

 

 

Maspeth community board objects to Home Depot development

Ridgewood Post

 Community Board 2 voted against a plan filed by Home Depot that calls for a massive home-improvement store and a six-story self-storage facility on a manufacturing site in Maspeth.

Home Depot needs a special permit since the 59-02 Borden Ave. site is located in a manufacturing district and the proposed six story self-storage facility does not conform with permitted uses.

The proposed development also calls for two one-story retail buildings. The retail buildings and separate Home Depot store comply with zoning regulations and can be built as of right.

The board rejected the application and said it would only approve the special permit if Home Depot agrees to use the two retail buildings for industrial use only. The Board in making the request said it aims to preserve the manufacturing integrity of the district.

The board’s decision is merely advisory, with the City Planning Commission and City Council ultimately determining the plan’s fate.

The site is located within the Maspeth Industrial Business Zone, which was established to ensure the preservation of industrial businesses. Those who oppose the application argue that this sets a bad precedent.

Home Depot, represented by the law firm Akerman LLP, argues that the self-storage facility would be of value since it meets the needs of small businesses– particularly contractors– and is a model that has worked elsewhere.

The company said that there are no self-storage areas within a quarter mile and that the facility would be in demand. The facility would be operated by a third-party vendor.

The development site is bound by Borden Avenue to the north, 55th Drive to the south and Maurice Avenue to the east. The self-storage facility would be located to the rear of the site—by the Long Island Expressway– and adjacent to the proposed 134,000 square foot Home Depot store. The two one-story retail buildings would front onto Maurice Avenue.

Quincy Ely-Cate, from the Maspeth Business Industrial Association, said he is against the proposal. He said the self-storage facility does not comply and he does not want it to take space in the IBZ. He said that there are 850 industrial businesses and 15,000 related jobs within the IBZ that need to be protected.

 “These businesses are currently under threat and face tremendous pressures from the increase in industrial real estate rents and valuations as developers encroach on these designated areas with speculation of alternative non-conforming uses,” he said.

Limits on self storage

From Crains:

A City Council committee provided a key approval for legislation to restrict the development of self-storage facilities in industrial business zones Thursday, despite biting criticism of the bill by one of its members.

The measure, which is likely to be approved by the full council Dec. 19, would require a special permit to build self-storage projects in most of the 21 IBZs, which account for around half of the city's manufacturing space. Obtaining this permission would require going through a nearly yearlong public review process that culminates in a council vote.

The new requirement would not apply in two zones in the Bronx and another pair in Staten Island, along with part of a zone in Jamaica, Queens. But self-storage companies would still need to set aside space for industrial square-footage in any project they build, according to the bill. Existing facilities would be grandfathered. (In the IBZs that opted out, self-storage facilities up to 50,000 square feet will be allowed as-of-right. Only buildings above that size will be required to set aside 25% of the space for industrial use.)

The council and Mayor Bill de Blasio have long wanted to restrict the proliferation of certain uses—such as hotels, offices or strip clubs—in areas that are supposed to be home to manufacturing and industrial jobs. Nonindustrial uses, the argument goes, can pay more for rent or land and thus tend to squeeze out manufacturing companies that provide higher-paying jobs.

Proposal to strengthen the industrial sector

From the Queens Ledger:

In an effort to build the city’s industrial sector, the Industrial Jobs Coalition has proposed a set of policies that would change manufacturing areas to foster growth.

According to the IJC, which was formed to implement the strategies, New York City has pioneered the use of nonprofit organizations to develop and manage affordable housing. Now the coalition wants those groups to do the same for manufacturing businesses and jobs.

For example, organizations like the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) and Evergreen Exchange collectively manage 4 million square feet of space and close to 10,000 jobs. But the coalition said the benefits of their efforts are limited to their individual communities.

The IJC now wants to extend this strategy throughout all five boroughs.

To achieve the large-scale expansion, the coalition suggested that the city give nonprofit organizations a priority in the disposition of city-owned industrial land.

It also proposed funding increases to the Economic Development Corporation (EDC)’s Industrial Development Fund and enhancing the role of Industrial Business Service Providers (IBSPs) as neighborhood partners.

The second strategy it recommends is re-conceptualizing Industrial Business Zones into “industrial campuses.” That would include physical and structural changes to industrial areas.

Advocates from the IJC proposed rerouting bike lanes off truck routes and adopting parking, loading and sidewalk regulations. They also suggested adopting signage about the area’s industrial use, expanding high-speed broadband access, reviewing street maintenance and planning for resiliency.

The last proposal to foster manufacturing growth is to reform city zoning to protect industrial spaces. To do this, the IJC wants to prohibit “incompatible uses” that accelerate speculation within IBZs, such as hotels, large-scale entertainment venues and mini-storage facilities.

The zoning changes would also reevaluate density in manufacturing zones and end a Community Facility bonus.

Self-storage resistant to de Blasio legislation

From Crains:

More than a year ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a 10-point plan to spur the city's manufacturing sector. Point No. 2 was to limit the number of hotels and self-storage facilities in designated industrial business zones (IBZs).

The plan has made few headlines since, largely because the administration is still working on a bill that insiders expected months ago. But self-storage operators have been gearing up for a fight, and for good reason: City Hall is backed by manufacturers and advocates who frown on self-storage because, they say, it occupies large buildings on key sites, creates few jobs and pays low wages. Moreover, the industry is growing.

Owners of storage businesses argue that they have become scapegoats for a manufacturing exodus that will continue regardless.

The mayor's legislation is likely to require self-storage facilities to obtain special permits to open in IBZs, a costly and time-consuming obstacle intended to preserve sites for manufacturers.

Crowley may support rezone of IBZ property for housing

From Crains:

The owner of an eight-acre industrial complex straddling train tracks in Maspeth, Queens, wants to propose a mixed-use project on the site.

The oddly-shaped property at 57-46 56th St. is currently home to a series of buildings used by various warehouse and industrial companies, and is bisected by a set of tracks used by the Long Island Railroad. The parcel is owned by Manhattan development firm the Chetrit Group, which said Wednesday that its plans are still in the early stages, but that it would like to propose something that fits in with the low-rise housing that flanks the property.

Winning approval for a rezoning could prove difficult, as the parcel lies within one of the city's Industrial Business Zones, which the de Blasio administration pledged to protect from residential development, in keeping with a 2015 commitment. But the Chetrit Group said that the site both lies at the edge of the district, and is across the street from existing housing, which would help make the case for redevelopment.

The site has been mentioned this year by City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley in connection with her critique of City Hall’s homeless policy.

In August, she sent a letter to the mayor encouraging him to proactively search for more opportunities to develop permanent, low-income housing, rather than rely on converting hotels to homeless shelters, which has led to vehement protests and lawsuits in her district.

"We need affordable housing, not another shelter-hotel," she wrote in the letter to the mayor. "In recent months, two real estate developers who are eager to build residential housing units in Maspeth and Woodside have approached me, looking to start a conversation about a zoning change."

DeBlasio & City Council will no longer support housing in IBZs

From Crains:

Rising rents and property values aren’t just squeezing out mom-and-pop stores and longtime New Yorkers. Manufacturers are also feeling the pinch, and on Tuesday Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a long-awaited plan to come to their aid.

The heart of the plan calls for protecting the city's 20 industrial business zones, or IBZs, from hotel and residential development while investing $442 million over 10 years in city-owned manufacturing havens such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Hunts Point in the Bronx. Protection for land zoned for light manufacturing/residential use will be proposed later, after an ongoing study is completed; the expectation is that a portion of projects in so-called Mx zones would have to be set aside for light-industrial use, which has recently been frozen out by the hot residential market.

The mayor's proposal was developed in cooperation with City Council leaders and with input from advocates for manufacturers, which should ease its passage.

One component of the plan is to end as-of-right construction of hotels and self-storage facilities in IBZs, which are zoned for heavy manufacturing. Hotels are seen as not just taking space that could go to manufacturers but as driving up land values around them, making it too expensive for industrial businesses from buying their space or expanding. Self-storage has been under fire because it provides few jobs and low wages. Hotel and self-storage projects would require a special permit, meaning they would require City Council approval.

The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, which had been lobbying the mayor to protect industrial businesses, described the changes as "the right step in reforming decades-old land use policy to include provisions that reflect the realities of the 21st century."

But the group did not get new restrictions on big-box stores, night clubs and other uses it considers incompatible with industry. Big-box stores currently require a special permit to open in manufacturing zones.

From Capital New York:

In an effort to bolster New York City's manufacturing sector, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he will not allow homes to be built during his tenure in zones designated for industrial businesses.

Proposals for rezoning land require approval from the City Council and mayoral administrations, giving them the authority to essentially declare a blanket ban such as this.

Asked what specific mechanism would be used for this, the mayor said, "We're not accepting private applications any longer. It's a fundamentally different approach."

Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, expanded on that.

"What we are saying is that we will no longer look with any favorable, any favor on a private developer coming in and saying, 'we would like to convert this site to residential use,'" she added. "And so, again, it's not a banning. It's a signal to the market that the policy of the City of New York is that these are precious resources and we have a very aggressive plan to appropriately densify neighborhoods where we think housing should be built."

Maspeth wants to save its manufacturing

From the Times Ledger:

Manufacturing in New York City isn’t dead. It just needs some nurturing.

Industrial areas like the one in Maspeth provide 342,000 jobs in New York City, according to a 2014 study by the City Council. But advocates and Maspeth business leaders worry that if Mayor Bill de Blasio does not do more to protect industrial areas, many of these jobs could lose out to the more profitable housing market.

“There’s just a shortage of industrial property in New York City,” said Jean Tanler, president of Maspeth’s Industrial Business Zone “It’s detrimental to the economy as a whole.”

Researchers at the Pratt Center for Community Development are concerned that as de Blasio continues to push for new affordable housing development, many manufacturers will be pushed out to make room for housing, taking with them high paying jobs with an average salary of $50,000.

“We support the mayor’s goal for affordable housing,” said Adam Friedman, a co-author of the study “Making Room for Housing and Jobs.” “But we believe saving manufacturing jobs is essential for this goal.”

In the study, researchers argued that these industrial zones should be considered sanctuaries for jobs through a strict zoning code that would prevent real estate predators and hotels. Preventing the development of big-box retail and storage warehouses, which provide fewer jobs than industrial businesses, would strengthen these areas. These steps, they argue, would prevent industrial areas from eroding.

De Blasio protecting manufacturing...someone tell Weisbrod

From Crains:

For more than a year, manufacturers have been waiting impatiently for Mayor Bill de Blasio to articulate how he plans to protect them from encroaching housing, hotel and other nonindustrial development. On Thursday, they will get their first clue.

In his fiscal 2016 executive budget, Mr. de Blasio will propose to nearly triple funding for the city's eight industrial business service providers to $1.5 million from this year's $570,000, which itself was an increase from zero in the mayor's first budget proposal (the council restored the funding, as it did when then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg moved to eliminate it a year earlier).

Not only is Mr. de Blasio proposing to increase the funding but to baseline it, meaning it will be the minimum amount provided by the administration each year going forward. The City Council could still negotiate to add more, as it did last year when it increased the pot by $830,000 for a total of $1.4 million.

The mayor's budget will also include $450,000 for new industrial and manufacturing training to give workers the skills that industrial employers seek. It will be similar to the technology talent pipeline announced by the mayor last year.

Also from Crains:

City Planning Commission Chairman Carl Weisbrod said there are no plans to rezone any of the city's 20 industrial business zones, though some tinkering around the edges may be warranted—a comment that baffled some business advocates.

"We are certainly not contemplating wholesale, area-wide rezonings within IBZs," Mr. Weisbrod testified at a City Council hearing Wednesday. Some IBZs have "inappropriate boundaries," he said, and acknowledged approving a handful of applications for spot rezonings at the "peripheries" of the zones.

These rezonings have been infrequent and minimal, he said. But reaction to his comments highlight the deep anxiety felt by many industrial business owners in the city.

Leah Archibald, executive director of Evergreen, an industrial business service provider in north Brooklyn, said questioning the borders of some zones made little sense.

"The IBZ boundaries were revised last year," she told Crain's. "Even in our rapidly changing neighborhood, little has changed so much that it would necessitate any boundary revision in the near future."

An end to hotels in IBZs?

From Crains:

As the city's manufacturing sector awaits Mayor Bill de Blasio's long-promised industrial policy, one private-sector insider predicts with professed certainty that it will call for an end to as-of-right hotel construction in light-manufacturing zones.

In other words, hotel developers would need some sort of political approval, either a special permit or a zoning exception from the Board of Standards and Appeals, or new zoning from the City Council and mayor. "I'm sure that's what it will be," the source said.

Moreover, the insider said there might be an outright ban on new hotels in industrial business zones, or IBZs, which are manufacturing districts singled out by the Bloomberg administration for extra protection from nonindustrial uses.

More than a few manufacturers would welcome such reforms. They say an influx of hotels in their districts has put upward pressure on land prices and rents, threatening the viability of longtime businesses that have expiring leases, and tempting those who own their buildings to sell to developers who want to construct hotels or apartments.

Hotels pushing manufacturers out

From Crains:

As hotels gravitate to über-trendy areas like Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Long Island City, they're pushing out small businesses that have made those industrial neighborhoods their home for decades. Companies are facing outright displacement or tripled real estate prices, the unwelcome consequences of the ongoing hotel boom. Those businesses that have not been forced out yet fear a move to Long Island or New Jersey is inevitable.

Since 2007, at least 11 hotels have opened in industrial business zones, and another 16 are on the way, according to a recent Pratt Center for Community Development study funded in part by the New York Hotel and Motel Trade Council. IBZs were established by the Bloomberg administration to "protect existing manufacturing districts and encourage industrial growth citywide."

Similarly, in older M1 zones—areas for light manufacturing—at least 115 hotels are up and running, and 75 more are in the pipeline. There are 24 hotels in Long Island City alone. Whatever the zoning laws were once meant to accomplish, they've long since stopped being useful.

There are still 2,100 manufacturing firms in Long Island City, and many of them employ neighborhood residents. The area cannot afford to let them all go. "We need thoughtful development planning around how to make sure, for the sake of the long-term viability of the city, that we have spaces for these uses," said Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the Long Island City Partnership.

There are way too many hotels in M zones

From Crains:

Not everyone is happy about the hotel boom: Industrial businesses say it has hit their neighborhoods with great force, making space scarcer and more expensive. A new study backs up that narrative, finding at least 115 hotels in M1-zoned areas, which are set aside for light manufacturing, and about 75 more on the way.

The report, by the Brooklyn-based Pratt Center for Community Development, also found that at least 11 hotels have been built since 2007 in industrial building zones, or IBZs, which were established in some manufacturing districts to further protect businesses there from residential development. Another 16 hotels are in the pipeline for IBZs.

Overall, the number of hotels in the city grew by 180, or 35%, between 2004 and 2013, according to the report.

Hotels can be built without any special approval in industrial areas, such as the garment district, Long Island City in Queens and the Gowanus and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn. Tourism was at much lower levels when the zoning was written, and there was no expectation that guests would want to stay in gritty sections of the city with noisy machinery, trucks and few amenities—or anywhere outside of Manhattan, for that matter.

Melissa not keen on housing in IBZs

From Crains:

In her State of the City speech Wednesday, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for increased protections for the city's dwindling industrial and manufacturing zones, putting her on a collision course with Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is eyeing those zones for housing.
Ms. Mark-Viverito said the City Council would work to implement recommendations laid out in a report issued last November to "protect industrial space and support growth in the city's traditional manufacturing sectors, like furniture and ethnic food, and also nurture growing creative-sector industries."

Ms. Mark-Viverito's speech came amid tension between the council and Mr. de Blasio over the future of the city's 21 industrial business zones. The mayor is looking for ways to add apartments to the IBZs, which former Mayor Michael Bloomberg shielded from residential rezoning but largely ignored during his final years in office. Critics sense a similar lack of enthusiasm from Mr. de Blasio, whose first budget slashed funding for the IBZ program and whose aides talk of putting "workforce housing" in industrial areas to advance the administration's goal of creating 80,000 affordable units.

Council proposes new mixed use zones

NYCC Engines of Opportunity - 11-19

From Crains:

While the de Blasio administration focuses on affordable housing, the City Council on Wednesday proposed new zoning to spur the city's manufacturing and "creative" economies.

The 40-page report represents the council's attempt to reverse the six-decade decline in the city's manufacturing sector, which employs 76,000 workers, down from its height of 1 million in 1940. Industrial businesses, which pay wages nearly double those in the growing service industry, are under threat by the explosion of residential development and rely heavily on zoning to preserve their footprint in the city.

The report also comes amid tension between the council and Mayor Bill de Blasio over the future of the city's 21 industrial business zones. Mr. de Blasio is looking for ways to add apartments to the IBZs, which former Mayor Michael Bloomberg shielded from residential rezoning but largely ignored during his final years in office. Critics sense a similar lack of enthusiasm from Mr. de Blasio, whose first budget slashed funding for the IBZ program and whose aides talk of putting "workforce housing" in industrial areas to advance the administration's goal of creating 80,000 affordable units.

With that in mind, the council wants to create three new kinds of zoning districts to help grow manufacturing and industrial businesses: an "industrial employment district," a "creative economy district" and a "real mixed-use district."

DeBlasio looking to kill what manufacturing is left

From Crains:

An unlikely coalition of manufacturers, business groups, liberal City Council members and housing advocates are pressuring Mayor Bill de Blasio to protect the city's industrial areas. But the mayor himself is pushing the very thing they fear most: housing in their midst.

Mr. de Blasio is looking for ways to add apartments to the city's 17 industrial business zones, or IBZs, which former Mayor Michael Bloomberg shielded from residential rezoning but largely ignored during his final years in office. Critics sense a similar lack of enthusiasm from Mr. de Blasio, whose first budget slashed funding for the IBZ program and whose aides talk of putting "workforce housing" in industrial areas to advance the administration's goal of creating 80,000 affordable units.

"No housing is affordable without a job," said Leah Archibald, executive director of the East Williamsburg Valley Industrial Development Corp., delivering her signature line. Her group, a Brooklyn development corporation, represents about a thousand businesses that employ 15,000 workers.

Advocates for industrial businesses have been fighting a lonely battle to maintain footholds in hot markets like Williamsburg and Long Island City, Queens, but the recent support of housing activists—natural allies of the mayor—could mark a turning point.

Council calls for more manufacturing support

From the Queens Chronicle:

The battle to maintain manufacturing and industrial space has raged on for years on the hyperlocal level in many Queens neighborhoods and areas citywide.

Now, the City Council is requesting Mayor de Blasio to take significant action to ensure the survival of the city’s 21 industrial business zones.

Resolution 228, introduced on May 14 and discussed at a June 19 hearing jointly held by the committees on Economic Development and Small Business, calls on de Blasio to revitalize the defunct Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses

Co-sponsored by 12 city lawmakers, including Queens Councilmen Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn, Queens), Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) and Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), the resolution is not legislation. Instead, it is a formal request for the city’s executive branch to take action on the issue.

...the Council is calling for the former industrial business oversight agency to be revamped in order to “grant the manufacturing sector a strong voice in city government,” as per its resolution.

Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), chairman of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, discussed at last week’s hearing how critical it is that the city doesn’t “simply develop away our manufacturing zones.”

“While manufacturing saw considerable decline over the last few decades, we are happy to see some growth again in the last few years,” Garodnick said. “And it’s important that the city be present to support that growth. The city needs to prioritize protecting industrial space.”

IBZ funding nixed

From Crains:

Mayor Bill de Blasio's budget proposal eliminates a $1.1 million allocation for industrial business zones, a decision that did not shock those familiar with the program but casts doubt on the new administration's approach to preserving manufacturing jobs in the outer boroughs.

In 2006, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg designated 16 industrial business zones across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The thrust of the plan was to keep industrial and manufacturing businesses operating in the city by using tax credits and city funding and to signal that the areas would not be rezoned for residential or other uses.

But the roughly $4 million budgeted that first year for IBZs has steadily decreased. Nothing was set aside in Mr. Bloomberg's final budget, but then-Councilwoman Diana Reyna shoehorn $1.1 million back into the city's 2014 financial plan. The money paid for the Department of Small Business Services to provide consulting for industrial businesses. EDC also has three staffers helping manufacturers, funded out of the agency's own budget.

Many of the program's supporters, including Ms. Reyna, who is now deputy borough president of Brooklyn, are still advocating for the IBZs. "We want the mayor's office to really re-commit to this program," she said. "This program needs an office and a head of OIMB that reports directly to the mayor. The Brooklyn Navy Yard has a wait list for new businesses looking for space. There is interest here."

Responding to that interest and growing manufacturing jobs would seem to be a natural fit for Mr. de Blasio, who campaign on a platform of economic opportunity for working-class New Yorkers. A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Small Business Services said in statement to Crain's that a litany of free services are available to businesses in industrial areas and "Mayor de Blasio's budget reflects his administration's values, which include preserving and growing the manufacturing sector as a key element of his economic development policy."

But by removing the last vestiges of funding from the program, the new mayor is indicating that his administration is at the very least rethinking its approach to industrial business growth. Since Mr. Hum's departure, the responsibilities of the IBZ program have been shared by a number of city agencies, none of which could confirm their number of IBZ employees.

Thought you might like to see the mayor's campaign promise on this issue:

Help Manufacturing Thrive in New York City: Bill de Blasio believes manufacturing 2.0 can be a critical part of the city economy and will build on existing programs to preserve the physical integrity of Industrial Business Zones, stop illegal conversions of industrial areas, and support better infrastructure and workforce development planning. He will replicate the success of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in other industrial areas owned and managed by the city.

So much for that.

From IBZ property to luxury condos

From Crains:

Two apartment buildings boasting amenities including a rooftop dog walk are set to rise on the gritty border of Bushwick in Brooklyn and Ridgewood in Queens, further proof of the area's transformation.

The brick-and-glass buildings, both designed by architect Ariel Aufgang, are planned for 83 Bushwick Place in Brooklyn, and 176 Woodward Ave. in Queens. Together they will have a total of 108 units.

The 88-unit Ridgewood project, on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Starr Street, is currently in a manufacturing zone, but the developer, Slate Property Group, is seeking permits from the city to recast the parcel for residential use. The four-story structure was designed to look like an assemblage of smaller properties, according to Mr. Aufgang, and may feature amenities like a rooftop dog walk, as well as a gym, a garage and ground-floor retail.

Mr. Schwartz said while the buildings will have luxury-level finishes, he sees them commanding market-rate rents and creating an option for people being priced out of units farther east.

A rooftop dog walk? I guess Skylar and Dakota from Peoria and their purebred don't want to mix with the exotic hoi polloi out with their pit bulls. See previously. I also guess that the IBZ didn't entice this owner to keep the property one for manufacturing.

Magical blue bus still gracing Brooklyn streets

My trusted informant in Brooklyn sends over shots of the magical blue bus spotted once again this week.
Oh my, something seems to have happened to the door!
I'm sure the parishioners are thrilled to have this lovely piece of "artwork" across the street from their sanctuary. Nice to see that the bunkbeds are still intact.
It's really quite a piece of mobile creativity, so it's no surprise that it's affiliated with the Knockdown Center, which prefers skankily decorated vehicles with out-of-state plates.
I find it hard to believe that those racks are street legal, but at least they are sans gas tanks this time.
Here we have a shot of the whole vehicle.

And now a word from our correspondent:

"What I find interesting is when I have seen this bus it is parked on the same place on Banker Street (just north of Nassau/Berry) OR on Bogart between McKibben and Boerum. They seem to have an IBZ fetish."

(The strategy is to hide where you think no one will complain about your fleabag motel on wheels.)

City not protecting manufacturing anymore

From the Queens Chronicle:

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg announced that specific areas of city land would be preserved for industrial purposes solely and called Industrial Business Zones. To go along with the IBZ, the mayor also created the Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses to support the city’s ailing industrial sector.

But eight years later, the OIMB has been dismantled and slowly, more and more of the IBZs are losing manufacturing businesses, which are being replaced by residential buildings and superstores.

“Creating these zones was the correct strategy for the city,” Adam Friedman of the Pratt Center for Community Development said. “The mayor recognized that manufacturers needed stability and said they would discourage nonindustrial uses and even created an office and conducted studies on the infrastructure of the industrial areas to better implement discouraging of nonindustrial uses. Those groups have gone steadily down and now have been eliminated.”

Since Bloomberg took office, the city has lost 1,800 acres of M-zoned industrial land.

In 2009, the New York Industrial Retention Network, which has since been consolidated to the Pratt Center, studied commercial uses invading IBZs. The 10-page document lays out every commercial superstore or chain hotel to move into each of the eight zones over several years.

“I don’t believe the city is doing everything the can to protect these companies,” Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Maspeth) said. “In my tenure as a council member, I’ve always had a specific interest in the industrial sector which dates back to the fact that my mother was a seamstress when the textile industry was predominately immigrants. She eventually had to change careers because of the shrinking industry buildings.”

Reyna and others cite real estate prices as one of the key reasons that more and more buildings are becoming residential. Building owners have found that commercial and residential companies are more likely to pay higher prices than manufacturers. So when leases come up, the owners hike up rents so high that industrial companies cannot afford to remain in the area.

This year, the IBZ fund that grants industrial businesses tax incentives for remaining in the zones has been zeroed out.