New York City Council 
Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises 
Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan (C 250185 ZMM, N 250186 ZRM) 

Thank you, Chair Riley and members of the Subcommittee, for the opportunity to testify on the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan (MSMX). The Partnership for New York City mobilizes private sector resources and expertise to advance New York City’s standing as a global center of economic opportunity, upward mobility, and innovation. We are a nonprofit organization whose members are preeminent business leaders and companies that support nearly one million jobs in New York City and deliver approximately $236 billion in economic output. 

The Partnership supports MSMX as a critical step towards revitalizing an area of the Central Business District that has been in a serious state of decline for several decades. The area also represents a major opportunity to support and promote the city’s creative industries and to increase the supply of housing. In 2024, the Partnership worked with McKinsey to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the state of the city’s fashion industry. A key conclusion of that study was that the former Garment District is no longer viable as a manufacturing center and that its redevelopment should focus on building a stronger cluster of creative industries including fashion, retail, the arts, technology, and entertainment. The proposed Midtown South rezoning is the opportunity to execute on that objective. 

Reconceiving of Midtown South as a mixed-use district with a much stronger residential component will address the safety and quality of life issues that have plagued the district, particularly since the pandemic. Decreased demand for traditional office space provides an opportunity to increase the city’s housing supply and enliven commercial spaces, similar to what is happening in FIDI, Dumbo, and other “new communities” where a combination of city intervention and private investment are generating new centers of economic activity. Thanks to the presence of SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology and the legacy of the Garment District, Midtown South is well positioned to emerge as a leading cluster of creative activity with support from targeted city and state incentives that encourage a range of artist and designer studios, housing, support services, and retail opportunities. 

Midtown South rezoning is the essential catalyst for development of a new creative cluster that will benefit the entire city, most particularly the fashion industry and the entire creative community. The district is well served by mass transit and proximity to employment. Residential development will bring improvements to the quality of life and security of residents and workers in the area. 

Midtown South is well positioned to transition to a thriving mixed-use, live-work community. Its redevelopment can bolster the resurgence of the fashion industry, which has been in a state of steady decline for several decades. This will be achieved by creating a broad creative cluster of entrepreneurial, educational, and residential uses. We urge the City Council to approve MSMX. 

Thank you.