To Save Midtown

Acritical City Council committee vote this Thursday will determine whether New York’s central business district will be revitalized — or left to continue spiraling into obsolescence. Barring any last-minute holdups, the council’s Land Use Committee will vote on the long-delayed Midtown East rezoning plan. The full council will follow with a vote on Aug. 9 — but this week’s ballot is the critical one.

Up for grabs is the future of 78 blocks in Midtown between 39th and 57th streets, stretching from Third to Madison avenues. The area has long been in need of new rules that would allow developers to upgrade or build new towers.

That’s because office buildings in the district average 75 years old and current zoning, which hasn’t been revised since the ’60s, discourages the kind of renovation and construction that’s desperately needed.

And just as Hudson Yards has spurred a re- vitalization of the West Side, Midtown East rezoning is needed to revive what long was Manhattan’s most vibrant commercial zone.

Fact is, the kind of high-tech and financialsector firms that are spurring development need modern, up-to-date buildings. And Midtown East can’t handle that without rezoning, which would offer 6.5 million square feet of new office space over the next two decades.

The council killed an earlier Midtown East rezoning late in the Bloomberg years on the grounds that it didn’t offer enough transit and community improvements. That’s largely been resolved, but the area’s councilman, Dan Garodnick, is still threatening to hold things up over relatively minor (and resolvable) issues, including upfront cash for civic projects.

It would be a fatal mistake if rezoning fails — or is delayed — yet again. Midtown East accounts for fully 10 percent of the city’s property-tax base. There won’t be another chance to save it from irrelevance.