{"id":1861,"date":"2025-02-06T00:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T04:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/?p=1861"},"modified":"2025-02-09T01:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T05:05:11","slug":"locals-push-back-on-crown-heights-spot-rezoning-over-shade-displacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/locals-push-back-on-crown-heights-spot-rezoning-over-shade-displacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Locals Push Back on Crown Heights Spot Rezoning Over Shade, Displacement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brownstoner.com Feb 6 2025 Article<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Developers want to replace a 1920s Ebbetts Field garage with a 13-story, mixed-use development on Empire Boulevard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A rendering of 73-99 Empire Boulevard by S9 Architecture. Image via Brooklyn borough president rezoning hearing presentation<\/em><\/p>\n

Crown Heights locals voiced their concerns about a developer\u2019s plan to rezone and build a 13-story mixed-use development on the corner of Empire Boulevard and McKeever Place at a recent public hearing held by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, saying the new building would cast shade on nearby children\u2019s play areas, be out of context, and wouldn\u2019t be affordable to local residents.<\/p>\n

Bridges Development Group (under an LLC named Empire Boulevard Holdings) filed the rezoning application for 73-99 Empire Boulevard<\/a>, which currently holds a Gothic-style 1920s single-story garage<\/a>, to alter its current zoning from C8-2 and R6 with a C1-3 overlay to C4-4D.<\/p>\n

The change would allow a 13-story, 145-foot-tall building with 261 apartments units, 78 of which would be rent stabilized and designated affordable through the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing<\/a> program. The development would also have 98,000 square feet of commercial space, which would include a grocery store. The application specifies there would be more parking spaces than required: 190 instead of 144 spots.<\/p>\n

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A rendering of 73-99 Empire Boulevard by S9 Architecture. Image via Brooklyn borough president rezoning hearing presentation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A rep for the developer said at the January 15 hearing the new building would \u201crevitalize\u201d Empire Boulevard, bringing new businesses and job opportunities to the area, and would address the city\u2019s need for housing, especially affordable housing with the apartments provided through the MIH program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site is a real blight right now\u2026we\u2019re looking to revitalize the streetscape here with active uses,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to enhance the pedestrian experience here with active uses, bringing eyes to the streets, stimulating the local economy with new job opportunities and retail uses for people shopping in the area and reverse the urban decay that you\u2019re seeing at the site, in addition to providing much needed housing, and, of course, affordable housing as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the rezoning is rejected by the city council, the developers would build a new two-story commercial building with 182 underground parking spaces, documents included in the application say.<\/p>\n

The rep was met by heckling and yelling from community members throughout the presentation. The disapproval was especially loud when the rep said the project would \u201cblend in\u201d with the surrounding area, that it would not cast significant shadows, that the site had been largely vacant for 20 years, and that the project would address \u201curban decay\u201d happening on the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo as somebody who lives in the neighborhood, I thought it was pretty cute having described it as urban decay, nice touch to someone who\u2019s, you know, really, actually lived there,\u201d Crown Heights resident Jim Search said. Search said he is a longtime resident who doesn\u2019t plan to leave Crown Heights, but finds buildings like the one proposed to be \u201csymbols\u201d to show locals they don\u2019t belong in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

He questioned how the new development would address the city\u2019s housing crisis when there are similar empty buildings across the city, and said if the developers and city officials continue to ignore community opposition to the project it will only get louder.<\/p>\n

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A rendering of 73-99 Empire Boulevard by S9 Architecture. Image via Brooklyn Borough President rezoning hearing presentation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"73-99
A rendering of 73-99 Empire Boulevard by S9 Architecture. Image via Brooklyn Borough President rezoning hearing presentation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rep\u2019s presentation at the hearing included renderings that show S9 Architecture<\/a> is working on the project. The renderings depict a building with staggered massing and setbacks at the sixth, eighth, and eleventh floors. Two lower sections of the facade are yellow-orange and rust; the upper section is off black. The loft-like ground floor has large windows and, at least in one section, a two-story-high ceiling. The setbacks and part of the roof are covered in plantings, the renderings show.<\/p>\n

Search was one of seven speakers who raised concerns about the project at the hearing, including doubts about the affordability levels for renters and commercial tenants, the building height, and potential for shadows on nearby basketball courts at P.S. 375. Speakers also said the development team hasn\u2019t engaged with the community and accused the developer of pushing a formulaic plan that won\u2019t benefit local residents.<\/p>\n

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The building at 73-99 Empire Boulevard pictured in January<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fred P. Baptiste, the chair of Community Board 9, which represents the area, said he found it amusing that the developer had looked at the board\u2019s website and noted the district needs, but \u201cwe never saw the applicant before my committee before the actual hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a domino effect of all the high-rises that are happening in the district and in the community, but we still haven\u2019t seen the benefit of it,\u201d he said, adding that zoning is there for a reason and should be respected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concerns continue to be shadows on our local resources. Sunlight is important. Our playgrounds are important. Green space, those are the things that are important,\u201d he said. A new 13-story, shadow-casting building whose market rate and affordable units would be out of reach to local residents is \u201cdisrespectful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Ornamental details and graffiti on the 1922 garage on the site<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Julia Bryant said the fact it was the first time the community was seeing the renderings presented at the borough president\u2019s hearing, and that they had to see them on a screen rather than in a handout, was disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m embarrassed and I\u2019m disappointed. I\u2019m embarrassed that this is what it\u2019s come to,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same song, at the end we\u2019re going to get you affordable housing, and at the end, when we get around to it, we forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime community activist Alicia Boyd focused her testimony on the environmental review and the shadows the development would cast on nearby areas. These include the Jackie Robinson School basketball courts and play areas as well as the Community Park Triangle at Sullivan Place and Franklin Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden can negotiate a deal so that the plants aren\u2019t shadowed, but we can\u2019t get a deal so our children aren\u2019t shadowed, our playgrounds are not shadowed?\u201d she questioned the rep for the developer and Reynoso.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur children deserve to live in the sun, play in this sun. These are the only open spaces available to Ebbetts Field and all those developments that the developer was talking about, this is their open space. So if you build this development without considering the shadow impacts, everybody in this neighborhood and all the children will now be playing in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A view of the Sullivan Street side of the property<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The borough president\u2019s hearing followed Community Board 9\u2019s rejection of the rezoning proposal. Following a public hearing in November, the board issued its finding in January. Twenty-three voted against the rezoning, one supported it, and two abstained. In its written decision, the board cited concerns about affordability, building height, and potential displacement pressures.<\/p>\n

The board called for an MIH<\/a> threshold where at least 30 percent of apartments are set aside for families earning an average of 40 percent or less of Area Median Income<\/a>. Currently, the MIH options are 25 percent for families earning an average of 60 percent AMI, or 30 percent for families earning an average of 80 percent AMI.<\/p>\n

The board also stressed that zoning changes at the site shouldn\u2019t set a precedent for future developments along Empire Boulevard. Instead of the proposed rezoning, the board conditionally supported commercial development at the site and<\/a> recommended a two-story retail space with parking. The board also urged the developer to include affordable rents for small businesses and publicly accessible parking.<\/p>\n

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The building as it appeared in a circa 1940 tax photo. Photo via New York City Municipal Archives<\/a>, Department of Records and Information Services<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The building at 73-99 Empire Boulevard in January<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the public hearing, Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso now has until February 15 to issue his recommendation on the proposed rezoning. After that, the City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and vote before the application goes before the City Council.<\/p>\n

The development team applied for a demolition permit for the single-story garage in June 2023, but the Department of Buildings has not yet issued a permit. The building was one of many in what was an automobile row along Empire Boulevard, with garages, showrooms, and gas stations.<\/p>\n

The Gothic style taxpayer<\/a> was completed in 1922 as a public garage, and a 1921 notice<\/a> of the new building filing showed the Radella Company was behind the construction. No architect was noted.<\/p>\n

A 1922 notice<\/a> indicated the company leased the property to the International Truck Company that year. By the circa 1940 tax photo<\/a> the building was home to Kings County Buick. The car dealer already had a presence in the area in the 1920s<\/a>, but on the opposite side of the street in what is now the Western Beef supermarket.<\/p>\n

[Photos by Susan De Vries unless noted otherwise]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brownstoner.com Feb 6 2025 Article Developers want to replace a 1920s Ebbetts Field garage with a 13-story, mixed-use development on Empire Boulevard. A rendering of 73-99 Empire Boulevard by S9 Architecture. Image via Brooklyn borough president rezoning hearing presentation Crown Heights locals voiced their concerns about a developer\u2019s plan to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fight-against-rezoning","category-in-the-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1862,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions\/1862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtopp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}