images by Damon Winter via NYTimes

New York City's Garment District is in danger of becoming another manufacturing-community-turned-commercial-district, threatened by Mayor Bloomberg's plan to consolidate the garment manufacturers that operate there to just one building, potentially eliminating this vibrant cluster of skilled workers in Midtown.

Jean Lin, editor of otto, has posted an article about the details and implications of this plan and what you can do to save the Garment District. An excerpt:

With garment manufacturing largely moving overseas to Asia, the remaining manufacturers in New York have shifted their focus to high quality production with attention to detail and design. Not only do well known fashion designers such as Vera Wang, Nicole Miller, Proenza Schouler and Marc Jacobs depend on the garment center for production, but smaller, independent designers have depended on their valuable working relationships and precious friendships to bring their indie designs to life. Smaller labels simply do not have the volume of product to go overseas. In short. We need more than one building. A lot more.

Read the rest of her article here, or, if you're getting anxious, head directly here to Save the Garment Center to find out how to get involved.