New fight blooms over proposed tower next to Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden dates back to the late 19th century, long before high rise buildings began casting long shadows in the borough.

A fight is unfolding over a proposal for a new 14-story building across the street from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — just three years after community advocates sunk plans for an even larger development at the same location, arguing it would cast harmful shadows over the storied green space.

The project’s developers last month released a draft environmental impact statement on a 475-unit residential building at 970 Franklin Ave. The site is in a busy area of central Brooklyn next to a subway station, and the plan would include 119 units of affordable housing.

The project is being pushed by the real estate developer Continuum, whose previous plan for a 34-story development on the lot was shot down by the City Planning Commission in 2021. The commission voted against the proposal after the Brooklyn Botanic Garden launched an aggressive campaign saying it would obscure sunlight and harm the more than 18,000 types of plants that grow there.

The draft environmental statement on the new proposal said the smaller, scaled back development would still result “in significant adverse impacts to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden,” with the development obscuring sunlight from most areas of the garden for 30 to 90 minutes per day.

Officials at the garden are gearing up for a whole new fight over the development. It highlights tensions between Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” plan to address the city’s housing shortage with new developments and neighborhood groups concerned with changes that come with their construction.

“It’d impact the plant health, the plant diversity, our ability to grow plants from around the world,” said Adrian Benepe, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The current zoning at the location allows for a seven-story building, which records show could contain roughly 168 units of housing. Benepe said a building that small would not cast harmful shadows over the garden.

He credited activism by community members for stopping the previous development in 2021.

"The main voice in this was not the voice of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden but rather the voice of tens of thousands of Brooklyn residents who cherish the garden and have cherished it for well more than 100 years,” he said.

The environmental review for the 14-story tower laid out the garden would not be significantly impacted by the shadows if certain greenhouses were moved or if artificial lighting were installed. But the review said both of those options were unfeasible.

William Fowler, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said in a statement the "administration has not yet taken a position" on the rezoning.

"While we have been crystal clear about the need for every neighborhood to play a role in solving the city’s housing crisis, individual site applications like this one deserve their own consideration — we are in favor of letting that process play out," Fowler said.

Representatives from Continuum, the real estate developer, did not respond to a request for comment on the project.

Supporters of the development also include influential labor leaders who argue it would help union workers.

Building and Construction Trade Council of New York President Gary LeBarbera wrote in testimony last year the building “is an example of the type of housing projects that our city must support.”

“This type of project must move forward given our City’s housing shortage as it will create housing affordable for our City’s teachers, firefighters, nurses, bus drivers and grocery clerks,” LeBarbera wrote. “Additionally, this project will be financed, built and operated with Union labor; providing well-paying jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits to the residents of our City.”

Alicia Boyd, leader of an organization in Crown Heights and Flatbush called Movement to Protect the People, who helped stop the previous building from moving forward, said the developers are trying to exploit the neighborhood.

“They also saw the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens not as a place that means sunlight and air to thrive and is actually for the public. They saw it as an asset that they could make money off of by giving people park views.”

The proposal is far from final. It requires a lengthy public hearing process, as well as approval from the City Planning Commission, City Council and the mayor.

This story was updated with a comment from Mayor Eric Adams' office.