NEW YORK CITY-A proposal by the Bloomberg administration to rezone a large section of midtown east has received high praise from a number of city government and business leaders.

“This is a tremendous proposal for the city of New York," said Steven Spinola, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, who spoke at a packed breakfast hosted by Crain's New York Business at the Yale Club on Tuesday. Spinola predicted that the new developments built under the new zoning would be "better buildings by far, buildings workers can be happy in. We need to do this." He also predicted that several of them would eventually become city landmarks, according to the Crain's report.

Several other speakers stated that new development is needed so that the area near Grand Central Terminal can remain competitive with other cities. Robert Steel, the city's deputy mayor for economic development and a key architect of the rezoning plan, noted the average age of buildings in the district is 73 years old.

City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who represents parts of midtown east, agreed that the area needs to stay competitive. However, he believes that the rezoning process should be slowed down to allow further study of the complex issues involved. See story in Crain's New York Business.

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City's Midtown East Rezoning Gets High Marks

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