Leah Archibald of Evergreen testifies in support of Intro 578 and IBZ preservation

All right.

Hi, my name is Leah Archibald.

I'm the executive director of Evergreen, and we're the local development corporation that works in industrial North Brooklyn to help small businesses, mostly manufacturers, grow so we can keep high-quality working-class jobs in our community.

We've been doing this work for over 40 years, and for 40 years we have learned a big lesson, and that is if we lose industrial land, we are not going to get it back, right?

So we are here in support of Intro 578.

Some lessons learned from the rezoning of North Brooklyn in 2005.

Between 2002 and 2019, we've lost about 15% of our industrial jobs and lost 16 million square feet of M-zone land.

That's about 25% of our industrial land that we lost in the rezoning.

But another lesson we've learned is preservation works, right?

At the same time, during those same years, in the North Brooklyn industrial business zone, right, which was protected, we've increased industrial employment by almost 9%.

So this is really...

This demonstrates that the industrial business zones, these are just not like random lines that are being drawn.

We believe that the past three administrations'promise not to rezone industrial business zone areas for residential uses has been the single most important factor

in the stabilization of New York City's industrial real estate.

You know, I think the time to address this, the Boundary Commission, really is now.

It's particularly in light of the Department of City Planning's Industrial Action Plan.

Okay, I guess I will finish.

You can go ahead and finish.

We think this will do a good job.

You know, by broadening the commission, by giving it, by broadening the voice and creating a higher bar,

by having a two-thirds vote to remove space from the industrial business zones, we think that this is going to lend additional protections and, you know, continue the industrial employment legacy in New York City.

Thank you.