More change ahead for shrinking garment district

Hundreds of thousands of garment workers once toiled in the sweaty, elbow-to-elbow workshops of midtown Manhattan before the whirring of sewing machines was mostly silenced by foreign competition. But the city’s garment district isn’t dead yet. A group of manufacturers, landlords, designers and politicians has a plan to preserve a remnant of the garment industry in a neighbourhood where about 5,000 people are still employed in workshops mostly serving higher-end designers, while doing away with zoning rules that critics said put onerous restrictions on prime real estate. City Hall wants to preserve at least 300,000 square feet for garment manufacturing, but allow real estate developers to bring in more 21st century businesses. That’s millions of fewer square feet than factories occupied in the industry’s glory days from the 1920s to the 1960s. The plan, if approved by the City Council, would lift 1987 zoning that reserved about 4 million square feet of space in the garment district’s highrises for apparel-production businesses. Today’s garment workshops occupy only an estimated 700,000 square feet, according to the city’s Economic Development Corp. And many say that number will likely dwindle away without the city’s protection. “The truth is, it’s a dying industry in the garment district, and who knows what would have happened to the remaining jobs without the city’s intervention,” said EDC spokeswoman Stephanie Baez. A Council vote is expected in the next few months, after more reviews to tweak details. Under the plan, landlords would get a tax break for setting aside at least 25,000 square feet in a building for manufacturers, with tenants offered the option to sign leases for at least 15 years. The city would also spend $20 million to acquire a building that would be dedicated to manufacturing. The proposal represents a retreat from an earlier plan that would have done away with special protections entirely. That idea had been opposed by representatives of New York City’s fashion design and theatre industries, which still need highly skilled garment workers close by.