On January 27, 2021, DID membership approved a Resolution to support the Chinatown Working Group Plan.

Read the Resolution

The following letter was included with the resolution:

January 27, 2021

Dear Mayor de Blasio, Council Members Chin and Rivera, Speaker Johnson, and BP Brewer, 

Enclosed please find a Resolution approved by Downtown Independent Democrats General Membership on January 27, 2021:

In Support of the Chinatown Working Group Plan for Chinatown and the LES

The current zoning and zoning plans for Chinatown and the Lower East Side fail to meet community needs. These laws displace long-time residents via real-estate speculation, increase taxes on small businesses and tenants, and fail to nurture the historical and cultural character of the neighborhoods.

The Chinatown Working Group Plan is a community-led framework to stop displacement of tenants, workers, and small businesses; to expand affordable housing; to protect the diverse neighborhoods of Chinatown and the Lower East Side; and to prevent rezonings of one neighborhood at the expense of another, as happened with the 2008 East Village rezoning.

DID endorses the Chinatown Working Group Plan, and intends to join the CWG as a member organization.

DID urges the City Council and Mayor to support the CWG Plan, support the updating process, move forward with an Environmental Impact Study, and implement the updated Plan.

Sincerely,

Richard Corman

President, Downtown Independent Democrats

Enclosure