As New York City learned during the Covid-19 pandemic, industrial businesses are essential businesses. Manufacturers and distributors rushed into action pivoting to provide the necessary tools and equipment while ensuring that the supply chain held strong. From making PPE and hand sanitizer to stocking pharmacies and supermarkets, when things were at their worst the industrial sector was at its best. Sadly, the industrial footprint in New York City continues to shrink at a rate that makes a full economic recovery less likely.
There is currently an application before the City Planning Commission for a special permit to convert some manufacturing space in Maspeth to a personal self-storage facility. Though self-storage facilities serve an important function for many New Yorkers and businesses, their location in M Zones isn’t great for the industrial sector, as they take manufacturing space off the market for the sake of non-industrial, low-employment activities, in anticipation of rezoning the space to commercial or residential. These are not as-of-right developments, and require a special permit by CPC, so the approval of this facility would set a bad precedent for future applications.
Serving as champions and advocates for New York City’s industrial sector is the Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Council (MaiiC), an industry partnership that supports the sustainability of New York’s industrial sectors. Its business members created form letters that can serve as templates in opposition to this facility. One is specifically for companies in the food sector and the other is for all other industrial companies discussing general industrial and supply challenges that come from a loss of industrial space.
The comments must be submitted by September 30th, in advance of the October 7th vote.
Please submit the letter that is appropriate for your industry:
Template for food companies. Template for other industrial firms.
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