Menchaca To Reveal Industry City Rezone Stance At Community Forum

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Council Member Carlos Menchaca will finally reveal his opinion on the rezoning plan proposed for Industry City, a decision that could determine the fate of the industrial complex's transformation.

A representative for Menchaca confirmed with Crain's this week that a meeting the Sunset Park councilman set up for next week called "Should Sunset Park Rezone Industry City?" will include his personal answer to that question.

The announcement comes about a week after dozens of residents chanted "Which side are you on, Carlos?" outside his office after handing him about 2,400 signatures on a petition against the proposal, which has been in the works for the 16-building complex for years.

Menchaca has been holding off judgement on the plan — which would bring more than 1 million square feet of new development to Industry City — since he asked that its application be postponed back in March. Industry City leaders reluctantly agreed to withdraw the application after Menchaca said he would vote it down if they did not give local leaders more time.

The plans are now set to be resubmitted at the end of the month.

During that delay, Menchaca and the local community board have been investigating Industry City's plans in their own ways. Community Board 7 has held a series of public forums about the proposal while Menchaca, according to Crain's, has been meeting with a "working group" of community members.

Industry City leaders, who took over the property in 2013, have proposed changing its zoning designation to make way for 900,000 square feet of food and retail space, 600,000 square feet for classrooms and educational facilities, and a pair of hotels with more than 400 rooms. The owners have said the rezone will bring 15,000 new jobs to the area.

But opponents of the plans, including those who brought petitions last week, have argued that it will only exacerbate gentrification in the largely immigrant, working class neighborhood.

"A rezoned waterfront would be a playground for wealthy commercial tourists and a land-grab opportunity for corporations and the ultra-rich," Evan Grupsmith, an activist with South Brooklyn Chapter of New York City Democratic Socialists, said last week. "NYC-DSA’s South Brooklyn chapter joins with community groups like Protect Sunset Park to urge Councilmember Menchaca to reject Industry City’s zoning application."

Crain's reports that Menchaca may require a portion of Industry City to be reserved for manufacturing and light industrial uses in his stance on the project or call for a vocational school at the property.

Industry City's application, once submitted, will officially reach City Council for a recommendation after it passes through the local community board, the borough president and the Planning Commission.

Menchaca's community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday at Sunset Park High School.