Zoned for Asthma: The Failed ONE45 Rezoning Application, Part 2

This walk focuses on two redevelopment projects that would have brought over two billion dollars in private investment to neighborhoods sorely in need of investment. And yet, the projects were vehemently rejected by the communities they purported to improve. The two applications failed because many understood how these projects could attract newcomers to the community, and many feared that growth and diversification would dilute Harlem’s black American plurality through vertical gerrymandering and cracking in 3D. Once again, underdevelopment is used as a barrier to change that could potentially infringe upon the voting rights of racial and language minority majorities in Central Harlem seeking to preserve their status as a Minority Opportunity District, codified in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.