Commission green-lights a new look for Brooklyn.

The City Planning Commission has approved the Bloomberg Administration's comprehensive plan for Greenpoint and Williamsburg.

This far-reaching plan to reclaim Brooklyn's East River waterfront will create 49 acres of new open space and provide opportunities for development of nearly 10,000 units of housing, including approximately 2,300 units of affordable housing.

The plan breaks new ground by permitting an "inclusionary" zoning bonus in medium-density neighborhoods outside Manhattan in exchange for building affordable housing.

In response to concerns raised by the community and elected officials during the public review process, the CPC modified the original proposal to exclude from the rezoning several blocks with predominantly industrial uses in the upland neighborhoods, reduce permissible building height adjacent to Greenpoint's historic district, and provide for a mechanism to create a body to oversee and maintain open space created by the plan.

"Today these communities are one step closer to achieving their longstanding desire for access to and along the East River waterfront in largely vacant areas abandoned by manufacturing uses," said CPC chair Amanda M. Burden. "This comprehensive plan supports the Bloomberg administration's commitment to redeveloping the waterfront for housing, including affordable housing, as well as the Mayor's promise to support industrial firms. The unique character of the existing inland neighborhoods will be protected by the new zoning."

The proposal encompasses approximately 175 blocks, including a two-mile stretch of Brooklyn's East River waterfront and adjoining neighborhoods. The proposed rezoning provides opportunities for the development of housing and neighborhood retail, the creation of public parks and waterfront open space, and reconnects an inaccessible waterfront to the adjacent inland communities. It would establish height limits in inland areas, ensuring that new buildings fit in with their surroundings.