FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2004

CONTACT: Rachaele Raynoff, Press Secretary -- (212) 720-3471

October 4, 2004 – The Department of City Planning (DCP) has begun public review of its proposal to expand the City’s first mixed-use district in Port Morris, The Bronx, City Planning Director Amanda M. Burden announced today. Building on the area’s built character, antique stores and new residents, the rezoning would encourage needed housing growth in Port Morris and support the entrepreneurialism that has attracted artists, craftsmen and other small businesses to reuse its underutilized buildings. New workers and residents would help to further strengthen and revitalize the neighborhood with an array of services for the community.

Today the Port Morris neighborhood is a combination of industrial, commercial and residential buildings at the southern tip of The Bronx just across from Manhattan and located between the Harlem River and the Major Deegan Expressway. Port Morris’ variety of uses and building types, including two family rowhouses, apartment buildings, warehouses and other industrial buildings, make it an attractive live/work neighborhood that would thrive with the flexibility of mixed-use zoning. The 1997 mixed use zoning on which the new proposal would build covered five blocks that were zoned for manufacturing and did not permit residential use. These blocks have since become known for their Antique Row along Bruckner Boulevard and Lincoln Place with residential use above and nearby. The new rezoning would add 11 blocks to this district. With more than one-third of the lots in the proposed rezoning area vacant or underutilized, the proposed rezoning plan would promote new mixed-use development and help create a 24/7 neighborhood where there is ample infrastructure and transit services to accommodate it. The Lexington Avenue #6 and Concourse lines are within several blocks.

"It is heartening to see how mixed-use zoning has contributed to the resurgence of this neighborhood," said Burden, adding, "That is precisely what we expect to replicate with the expansion of the Port Morris Special Mixed Use District. We want to encourage more of a good thing in one of the City’s most exciting up and coming neighborhoods."

Under the proposed rezoning, approximately 400 new residential units are expected to be created through conversion and new development. The proposed zoning would allow a variety of uses at appropriate scale to current buildings throughout much of the district and would permit additional density on the larger lots near the water’s edge. The Department of City Planning website contains more information on the public review process.

City Planning
The Department of City Planning is responsible for the City's physical and socioeconomic planning, including land use and environmental review; preparation of plans and policies; and provision of technical assistance and planning information to government agencies, public officials, and community boards.

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