A plan that will wear well

Manufacturing in Manhattan’s Garment Center is on the verge of a new lease on life — thanks to city officials who tailored a smart and pragmatic compromise allowing both a signature city industry and a diamond-in-the-rough neighborhood to flourish.

Going on decades, City Hall has protected remaining scraps of pattern-cutting studios and sewing rooms just south of Times Square using the blunt tool of zoning, setting aside just for one shrinking sector (jobs have been going overseas) millions of square feet of aging real estate.

Perversities ensued, with some property owners sneaking in other businesses and others knocking down loft buildings and putting up hotels.

For fear of obliteration, industry advocates balked at removing the protections, even as Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen dangled incentives to jump the river to new and cheaper digs in Brooklyn.

Along came Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who represents the area, adding concrete possibilities for improvements to the storied Manhattan fashion district.

The city will commit up to $20 million to help a nonprofit acquire a building in the Garment Center to serve as a hub of fashion production. To make sure increased rents don’t drive the industry out, landlords can also opt for tax breaks if they keep garment tenants.

Special credit goes to Brewer. Where too many pols stand on soapboxes, she toured workrooms and spent long hours hammering out solutions.

Long live the fashion district. Longer live the fashion industry.