Bayswater - Battle Rages Over New Limits On Building

Bayswater - This tiny community is feeling the same development pressure that has sent real estate prices skyrocketing and refashioned neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
There is a clash between those who say they want government to limit further growth and others who say they fear that such restrictions would prevent them from realizing the full value of their property.

A large group of mostly elderly Bayswater residents made the trip of more than an hour to a public hearing at the Planning Commission in Lower Manhattan to ask the city to save their peaceful, suburban community from "overdevelopment." They say the neighborhood's unique character is under assault and that increased density is putting pressure on the area's infrastructure, including its roads, schools, parking, and sewer system.
The Planning Commission will vote by April 5 on a plan to downzone Bayswater, where many homes that are more than a century old are being sold at higher prices. New owners are demolishing the homes, subdividing the lots, and rebuilding shiny, multi-unit developments.