NEW YORK CITY-Fearing the “if you build it, they will come” effect, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer granted the city conditional approval of the Department of City Planning's proposed rezoning of East Midtown, contingent on the city agreeing to fund improvements to the eastside subway lines—the 4,5 and 6 trains. Stringer also called on the city to make 16 other changes to zoning, financing and other mechanisms.

Stringer received a commitment letter from Deputy Mayor Robert Steel stating that the city would pay to increase capacity, on an hourly basis, on the system's most congested line. Proposed transportation improvements will enable the subway line to accommodate 1,100 more people per hour and reduce or eliminate the overcrowding that has been forecasted to take place by 2030. The rezoning is slated to bring approximately 4.4 million square feet of new space to east Midtown, according to Stringer's office.

“In order to make East Midtown's plan a success, greater density in East Midtown should follow significant investments in its infrastructure,” the borough president says in his recommendations. Without new transit investments, he explains, the Grand Central area will continue to experience unsustainable growth; the utilization of downtown 4 and 5 trains is anticipated to increase by 112% and 103%, respectively, by 2030.