The long-fought-over SPURA plan is headed to the City Planning Commission Wednesday for a vote, after finally crossing a Community Board approval vote a half century in the making. The battle over what to do with the large swath of Lower East Side south of Delancey that's been underutilized as parking lots since the sites were cleared in a fit of urban renewal in the 1960s now moves up to Amanda Burden and company at the CPC for what looks like a pre-ordained vote. A compromise has been hammered out that calls for half of the new housing units planned for the site to be non-market rate apartments. The Wall Street Journal called it an "unprecedented" ratio, pointing out that other new developments have gotten by recently with 35% affordable housing. The definition of what affordable means and a half-dozen other planks of outrage make up a well-trod anti-SPURA-plan platform, so expect continued grousing.
· A Plan for Seward Park [WSJ]
· SPURA coverage [Curbed]
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