April 16th Community Meeting

Our latest Housing Not High-Rises Community Meeting was held on Tuesday, April 16 @ 7:00 pm at Holy Name Church on Prospect Park West. About 300 members of our community came to learn about and discuss Arrow Linen’s spot rezoning proposal.

We were privileged to host the following speakers:

  • Brooklyn Community Board 7’s Land Use Committee Chair, Diana Gonzalez:
    • Diana encouraged participation in the process, and acknowledged that CB7 is going to need a much bigger room when Arrow Linen’s proposal comes up for community review.
  • New York State Assembly Member for the 44th District, Bobby Carroll:
    • Bobby is a strong supporter of a compromise position that focuses on affordability and the needs of the community, and has consistently called Arrow Linen’s proposal “inappropriate.”
    • While serving at the state level and not directly involved in the zoning process, Bobby is a tireless advocate for the community he represents and has been very supportive of our efforts.
  • New York City Council Member for the 39th District, Shahana Hanif:
    • The rezoning to 13 stories is not an issue for Shahana, despite the concerns of the community.
    • Council Member Hanif acknowledged that we are not even negotiating in good faith with an actual developer, but rather with a landowner who wants to maximize profits as they sell their property, leaving the city and eliminating local jobs.
    • Please visit our How To Help page and click the link to send Council Member Hanif an email to let her know that you oppose this 13-story cash grab and her lack of consideration for the people who have elected her to represent them.

The agenda of the meeting (view the slide presentation):

  • Background & an overview of Arrow Linen’s proposal
  • Updates since our last community meeting
  • Information about the process and how new city-wide initiatives will affect it – City of Yes, a plan to add “a little more housing in every neighborhood”
  • Guest speakers – our elected officials
  • Q&A

Please see the press coverage:

Many thanks to the hundreds of community members who came to this event, and to Father Ryan and the Holy Name community for making this meeting possible!