The Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, acting under Acting Chair Shanel Thomas-Henry (with Chair Farah N. Louis absent on bereavement), convened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 11:00 AM in a hybrid format. The subcommittee voted on three land-use applications (two with modifications) and held public hearings on four preconsidered items. All votes were unanimous (7-0) with one member medically excused and the chair absent.
Zoom check. Webinar is started. Good morning. Welcome to New York City Council hearing for the subcommittee on zoning and franchise. Please sign sole cell phone electronic devices. If you wish to testify, please fill out an appearance card with the sergeant at arms. Moving forward, no one is to approach theirs. Chair, we're ready to begin. Good morning and welcome to the meeting of the subcommittee on zoning and franchises. Unfortunately, Chair Lewis is unable to attend today's meeting. I am Councilmember Thomas Henry, and I will serve as acting chair for the subcommittee today. This morning, I am joined by Minority Lever Leader, Councilmember Carr, Deputy Whip, Incarnacion, Councilmember Ferdius, Councilmember Shulman, Councilmember Salam, Council and Online, Councilmember Justin Sanchez, as well as in person, Councilmember Aldabal. Councilmember and Councilmember Wilson. Today we are voting on three proposals and holding four hearings. The three proposals we will first vote on consists of 4703 108th Street, mixed use residential rezoning in my district, 200 Kent Avenue, mixed use residential rezoning in Councilmember Wrestler's district, and the Flat Iron Nomad Major Concession Application regarding portions of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in Councilmember Wilson and Epstein's districts. We will then hold the hearings on the following proposals. 815 Hutchinson River Parkway rezoning in Councilmember Aldaball's district. 862 through 868 Kent Avenue rezoning in Council Member Wrestler's District. 158-06 Northern Boulevard rezoning in Councilmember Ung's district and 132 Melrose Street rezoning in Councilmember Gutierrez District. This meeting is being held in hybrid format. Members of the public who wish to testify may testify in person or via Zoom. Members of the public wishing to testify remotely may register by visiting the New York City Council website at WW.council.nyc dot gov slash land use. To sign up or for those of you in person, please see one of the sergeant at arms to prepare and submit a speaker card. Members of the public may also view a live stream broadcast of this meeting on the council's website. When you are called to testify before the subcommittee, if you are joining us remotely, you will remain muted until recognized by myself to speak. When you are recognized, your microphone will be unmuted. We will limit public testimony to two minutes per witness. If you have additional testimony that you would like to the subcommittee to consider, or if you have written testimony that you would like to submit instead of appearing in person, please email it to land use testimony at council.nyc.gov. Written testimony may be submitted up to three days after the hearing is closed. Please indicate the LU number and or project name in the subject line of your email. We request that witnesses joining us remotely remain in the meeting until excused by the chair as council members may have questions. Lastly, for anyone attending today's meeting, this is a government proceeding, and decorum must be observed at all times. Members of the public are asked not to speak during the meeting unless you are testifying. The witness table is reserved for people who are to call to testify, and no video recording or photography is allowed from the witness table. Further, members of the public may not present audio or video recordings as testimony, but may submit transcripts of such recordings to the sergeant at arms for inclusion in the hearing record. We will now proceed with the three votes. And I would also like to add that we have been joined by Councilmember Wrestler. The first vote concerns LU's 118 and 119 regarding 4703 108th Street rezoning proposal in my district. Applicant, the applicant is seeking a development to develop a mixed-use residential development in Corona, Queens that would have approximately 119 apartments, of which approximately 30 would be permanently affordable. The proposal involves two actions. The first is a zoning map amendment to change the existing residential R6B district to a residential R7X district with a C24 commercial overlay. The second action is a zoning text amendment to map mandatory inclusionary housing area and level of affordability, which would be limited to MIH option one. We are recommended that from recommending that the project area be rezoned to R7D rather than an R7X district, given that the surrounding area consists predominantly of two and three-story buildings. I support this application as modified, and we will move on to the next. The second vote concern LU's 115 and 116 regarding 200 Kent Avenue mixed-use residential rezoning proposal in Council Member Wrestlers District. Applicant is seeking to enlarge and convert an existing commercial building into a mixed-use residential development in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The proposed redevelopment would require would have approximately 143 apartments, of which approximately 36 would be permanently affordable. The proposal involves two actions. The first is a zoning map amendment to change the existing manufacturing M14 district to a mixed-use district consisting of a paired M14 district with a residential R7X district. The second action is a zoning text amendment to map a mandatory inclusionary housing area.