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SIX MONTHS AFTER the city's Department of Planning announced its intent to overhaul the garment district's zoning regulations, the effort has stalled and the city's few remaining manufacturers are feeling the pain.
Garment district landlords say discussions with the city on the rezoning have come to a halt in the face of their opposition to preserving any production space for manufacturing facilities.
"They were asking people to take a property and forever commit it to manufacturing," says Ira Fishman, a principal at Winoker Realty Co., which advises real estate investors and manages a handful of properties in the garment district. He is also a board member for the Garment Center Business Improvement District, which had been organizing meetings between the city, the Real Estate Board of New York, the Garment Industry Development Corp. and property owners. "The city's plan was doomed from day one."
Amanda Burden, chair of the City Planning Commission, said in March that she would unveil zoning changes within a month that would allow millions of square feet in the district to be freed up for office space.