Affordability, shadows at center of fight over proposed Brooklyn development

Another rezoning fight is brewing on the eastern edge of Prospect Park — and this time it’s not about casting shadows over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Brooklyn residents urged City Planning commissioners during a public hearing this week to reject a proposal for a 13-story, mixed-use development along Empire Boulevard, straddling the border of Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

The income-restricted units would not be affordable for the vast majority of residents, critics said. Out of more than 260 units, fewer than 80 would be designated "affordable." Opponents also said the building would overshadow outdoor spaces used by schoolchildren, particularly in the winter.

Though representatives for Bridges Development Group said details on income restrictions were still being worked out, their presentation was focused on an option that would reserve roughly 80 homes for people earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, or more than $124,000 annually for a family of four.

For a community long wary of gentrification, residents have balked at the notion that this designation would be considered affordable.

“This is deja vu all over again,” Fred Baptiste, Community Board 9 chair, told commissioners on Wednesday. The board would support commercial development on the corridor, he said, but “I want to be very clear: There is nothing about this project that has even shown to be affordable.”

The first two floors of the building would be for commercial use in addition to residential units on the higher floors. Developers told the City Planning Commision on Wednesday they want to attract large retailers in the league of Target and T.J. Maxx.

Baptiste’s community board voted down the plan in January, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso gave his conditional support for the plan. The community board demanded that at least 30% of total units be reserved for people earning 40% of the area median income: about $62,000 for a family of four, or less.

“We do understand that the median household incomes in this area are lower” than the range in the application, said Eli Gewirtz, an attorney representing the developer.

The company is still negotiating affordability levels with key parties, including City Councilmember Crystal Hudson, Gerwitz said. Hudson’s support is key for the project’s approval

“So we're definitely on the road and working towards providing more affordable at deeper levels of affordability,” Gerwitz added.

The rezoning bid comes after years of vigorous pushback in the community against a separate proposal for the former spice factory. The nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden led the charge against the development, and the shadows the original plan would have cast over its plants. Developers in that fight ultimately conceded to shorter buildings, and it received Council approval last year.

The Empire Boulevard development, meanwhile, would also cast shadows on some of its surrounding area, but the developer has insisted the effect on outdoor recreation areas belonging to nearby P.S. 375K and other areas would be minimal.

“We understand that there are some shadow impacts in the winter,” Gerwitz said. ”But given the totality of what we're bringing to the site, we think that the benefits significantly outweigh the minimum shadow impact that's going to be just in the winter and in the morning hours.

Some residents bristled at the developer’s reasoning.

“Why aren't we fighting for the children?” Alicia Boyd, a longtime community activist, asked commissioners. “Why do our children have to be without sun, but the plants don't have to be without sun?”

This story has been updated to clarify the Brooklyn borough president‘s position on the development plans.