Sunset Park community members voice opposition to Industry City's expansion

Members of the Sunset Park community are voicing opposition to Industry City's expansion to the waterfront district.

News 12 Staff

Jan 16, 2020, 1:46 AM

Updated 1,559 days ago

Share:

Members of the Sunset Park community are voicing opposition to Industry City's expansion to the waterfront district.
They say it will speed up the process of displacement and gentrification. While Industry City says it will add 20,000 jobs, those opposed don't think those jobs would pay a living wage.
Members of Community Board 7 will vote on a report weighing in on the rezoning Wednesday night. However, before a full vote, board members are reading the resolution into the record and opening up the floor for proposed amendments and substitutions.
After this, they'll update the report, and the board will vote on a whole land use action.
Much of the opposition comes from a desire to preserve Sunset Park as a manufacturing hub, instead of opening it up to a retail space.
News 12 spoke to the CEO of Industry City, who says the manufacturing is still there--it just looks a little different than it did decades ago. Those opposed are asking Councilmember Carlos Menchaca to side with them.
Industry City told News 12 that they think the council member can be swayed their way as well. In his latest statement, Menchaca said in part," Right now, Industry City does not need permission to build luxury retail and offices. It can, and is, doing that now. So we need to come together as a community and figure out whether we can use their application to protect manufacturing and the community's vision."
On Tuesday, the community board had to end its meeting early because of the contentious debate. They say the vote will happen Wednesday night.


More from News 12