Domino Sugar Refinery Rezoning

Testimony on the Draft Scope of Work

July 31, 2007

Good afternoon. I am Jennifer Barrett, Research and Policy Associate at the New York Industrial Retention Network or NYIRN. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the scope of work for the Domino Sugar Refinery. For the past ten years, NYIRN has worked with government agencies and businesses throughout the five boroughs to ensure a place for industry in the City.

NYIRN has reviewed the Scope of Work for the Domino site and we applaud the inclusion of low-income and affordable housing units, public open space and community facilities. NYIRN would like to address the importance of retaining industrial uses within the scope of work, and more specifically, the importance of keeping the upland area across Kent Street, the “non-project rezoning area,” for light manufacturing.

Historically, the Domino site and surrounding blocks between the waterfront and Wythe Street have been dominated by industry. Currently, at least fifteen active industrial businesses, (or 130,000 SF of industrial space) exist within the development site and adjoining blocks affected by the scope of work. In addition, there are eleven other businesses on the blocks immediately adjacent to the Domino site. Many of these businesses have been in existence since the 1950s and they currently employ more than 250 people.

Existing vacant parcels, equaling 50,000 SF of available land, provide a unique opportunity to create additional light manufacturing space that is designed to be compatible with new and existing residential, commercial and industrial uses; use of these parcels for manufacturing would reinforce the existing cluster of light manufacturing businesses in the area. Therefore, we would advise that the “non-project rezoning area,” blocks 2415, 2403 and 2390, be rezoned to M1-2 and could include provisions for high-performance manufacturing; this would bring businesses that are compatible with nearby residential areas while also creating additional jobs in the area. NYIRN strongly opposes the alternative rezoning of these blocks to mixed use (M1-4/R6A and M1-4/R6B) as presented on page 29 of the Scope of Work, which would ignite the displacement of existing businesses.

Manufacturing jobs are living wage jobs. Industry creates approximately 230,000 jobs citywide, nearly half of which are in manufacturing. On average, annual incomes for manufacturing are $15,000 more than service-industry jobs, and manufacturing employs a diverse workforce: two-thirds of the people in the production workforce are immigrants, 80% are people of visible minorities, and 24% do not have a high school degree or equivalent. In Brooklyn Community District 1, 36% of the residents are employed in industrial sectors. More specifically, in the area around the Domino site (between Grand and S. 4th Streets and west of Driggs Avenue), 29% of residents are employed in industry; 75% of the residents in this area are visible minorities and 23% have less than a high school degree or equivalent. Retaining and increasing manufacturing 2 jobs in and around the Domino site would offer long-term economic and employment opportunities to the immediate neighborhood and new residents of the Domino site.

Given the existence of light manufacturers in this area, proposed rezonings on and around the Domino site should consider ways to maintain and support light industrial uses, and mitigate incompatibility between businesses and the future residents of the Domino factory site. For example, traffic poses a challenge to the redevelopment of the Domino site. Kent Street is a major trucking route between the Williamsburg Bridge, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, southwest Brooklyn industrial zones and the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone and Industrial Ombudsman areas. As a major artery for heavy traffic, it poses a safety problem for future residents. Potential traffic problems must be closely considered in the Environmental Impact Study for the Domino site.

In closing, rezoning and changes to the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint have already limited the space available for manufacturers. The Williamsburg-Greenpoint Industrial Business Zone and other IBZs in Brooklyn and throughout the city are full to capacity; vacancy rates for industrial space are lower than the vacancy rates for office space in Manhattan. While NYIRN recognizes the importance of housing and acknowledges the work of the developer to provide affordable and low-income housing, it is concerned about land use decisions that will continue to weaken the area’s industrial future and its employment potential.

Thank you for the chance to testify on this important project.