The Yonkers City Council took a crucial vote Wednesday night, setting a broad range of standards for the $1.6 billion River Park Center development project.

The downtown revitalization initiative promises 4,000 new jobs and includes plans to construct a minor-league baseball stadium, additional retail space and waterfront restaurants at Chicken Island.

In a 5-2 vote, the council decided the project?s developers will not be required to pay a $2 million penalty to their financial backers for failure to finalize the plans by a set deadline. The council has yet to determine, however, how much the developers will have to shell out for the city-owned land.

?We got a lot of concessions in terms of affordable housing,? says Council President Chuck Lesnick (D). ?We got environmental standards into the findings, we were able to knock down the height of the buildings.?

One of the few points of contention at the meeting was the fate of an Art Deco office building at 87 Nepperhan Ave. Despite protests from local preservationists, the council rejected a proposal to landmark the building, which will now be demolished to make space for a parking lot.

In a statement, Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone praised the council for the vote, calling the River Park Center the most important development project for Yonkers.