Uptown-Down for the Count

In a quite unexpected move, "a rare nod to community opposition", the Bloomberg administration has killed the plans for the huge Uptown development in East Harlem. The project was designed to be a $1 billion development, "overwhelming the community with four 25 to 30 story residential towers sitting on top of a large commercial retail complex." This was a project that the Alliance opposed especially due to the 700,000 sq. ft. of undesignated retail space that could have easily housed a Wal-Mart or BJ’s.

Now, however, the deal is dead and EDC is set to issue a new RFP for the site, one that has "more affordable housing, commercial space for local businesses, and ways to avoid traffic congestion and air pollution." We're glad to see that the community's concerns have been listened to on this. We recall vividly the huge crowd that came out last year to the original scoping session. Any new plan should adhere more closely to the neighborhood's perspective.