The Honorable Inez E. Dickens Was Right!: Revisiting the Politics of the 125th Street Zoning

This virtual tour looks back on the controversial application to rezone 125th Street that triggered heated public hearings and a symbolic “human chain” that stretched from the Harlem River to the Hudson River. First, we screen the short documentary Rezoning Harlem, where ordinary citizens challenge decision-makers in the city government. The application was eventually approved under the leadership of then City Councilmember Inez E. Dickens who saw in the rezoning an opportunity to set strict height limits on future development, negotiate a community benefits package that included capital funding for three famed institutions, hundreds of deep affordable housing units, additional commercial units, a hotel, all developed with workforce construction as well as the creation of city’s first entertainment and arts special purpose district.