Arrow Action

Brooklyn CB7 to Discuss Arrow Linen CBA

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On Tuesday, March 25 at 6:00 PM at the Brooklyn Community Board 7 office, 4201 4th Ave (entrance on 43rd St & 4th Ave), the Housing and Land Use/Landmarks Committee will hold a meeting where Council Member Shahana Hanif and Michelle de la Uz will be discussing the Community Benefit Agreement that defines the 10-story height limit of the rezoning, and the units of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, as well as space for a childcare center and space for Sakhi, a nonprofit working with South Asian survivors.

You can attend in person or register to attend via Zoom: https://bit.ly/4iqOQQP

You can view the committee meeting on the Brooklyn Community Board 7’s YouTube Channel – https://bit.ly/3uQlAtq Note that you can only watch on the YouTube channel, you must register for the Zoom meeting if you want to comment.

Agenda:

1. Discussion on the Arrow Linen Community Benefits Agreement with Council Member Shahana Hanif and Fifth Avenue Committee Executive Director Michelle de la Uz.

(Note that Council Member Hanif and Michelle de la Uz will be attending remotely)

We encourage our community to join in person or via Zoom. Please take the time to download and read the Community Benefit Agreement (CBA).

While a reduced height and increased number of rent-stabilized Mandatory Inclusionary Housing units were included in the CBA, we have concerns:

  • We have questions about the enforceability of any part of the agreement.
  • Since Housing Not High-Rises was kept from participating in and being a signatory to the CBA, the only way it can be enforced is if Fifth Avenue Committee would sue Arrow Linen’s owners, should they not hold up their end of the bargain.
  • Fifth Avenue Committee is listed in the CBA as an administrator of the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing units, and stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing so (up to $4000 per units, 100 units). We feel this is a glaring conflict of interest.

City Council Passes Modified Rezoning

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On Wednesday, February 12 2025, at the recommendation of Councilmember Shahana Hanif, two key City Council committees voted to approve the rezoning of Arrow Linen in South Slope/Windsor Terrace, with an R7A zoning designation (11 stories), with 40% of units reserved as permanently affordable, and a Community Benefit Agreement to limit the height of the building to 10 stories.

Additionally, the mostly renter-occupied adjacent properties in the rezoning that are not owned by Arrow Linen had their rezoning increased to R6B. This allows them to build to six stories with anything above five to include affordable housing as well.

Many thanks to our community for the powerful pressure we brought to bear on the Councilmember and the committee members of the City Council to reach this compromise.

The full Council is expected to adhere to the tradition of Member Deference, and follow Councilmember Hanif’s recommendation with a final vote to approve, later this month.

Ongoing concerns about the rezoning as approved include the fact that Arrow now has an R7A zoning which allows eleven stories, as no relevant zoning district could be used here to limit to ten stories, and the Council’s ten story height limit is intended to be enforced by a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA). CBAs are not binding, but rather allow the manager of the CBA to sue a party that does not hold up their end of the agreement. If the owners of Arrow Linen sell their property, the purchaser is under no obligation whatsoever.

The CBA is expected to be managed by the Fifth Avenue Committee. Housing Not High-Rises is working to ensure that our community has a seat at the table as this agreement is negotiated, and representation on the promised construction

Housing Not Highrises thanks Assemblymember Robert Carroll, who represents the area in the State Assembly, and has been a consistent champion for the community. He said,  “Throughout this process, I have always advocated for a nine story building because I felt that this struck the right balance between the need for affordable housing development and community concerns. I commend Housing Not High-Rises for their advocacy, which resulted in a more appropriate sized building, deeper affordability, and some protection for the adjacent small residential buildings. I remain concerned a future developer will seek to change the Community Benefits agreement and seek greater building height and additional concessions. I trust Councilmember Hanif will work to ensure the owner and developers of the Arrow Linen site will meet the terms of the Community Benefits Agreement, which is largely enforceable based on her vigilance and advocacy.”

Many thanks as well to these organizations and people who have supported and endorsed our work:

  • Park Slope Civic Council
  • Catholic Charities
  • Movement to Protect the People (MTOPP)
  • Maya Kornberg
  • Voice of Gowanus
  • Brooklyn Community Board 7

We have more to share about the process, but that’s for another day. We haveve completed another step in this long journey, and we will keep fighting and keep you updated as the process continues.

City Council Hearings Today

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The big votes are scheduled for 11AM and 12PM today. 

As of 9AM, Council Member Hanif has not communicated any information to HNHR about the final deal she negotiated, despite multiple calls and texts from us this week asking her for updates. 

We will have Housing Not High-Rises members at the votes and we will report back to you  on the deal she negotiated.

If you’d like to join, the votes are at 250 Broadway, 16th Floor Hearing Room at 11AM and 12PM today.

You can also watch here: https://council.nyc.gov/livestream/#location-16th-floor

Thank you for your ongoing support!

We stopped by Council Member Hanif’s office this morning to try one last time to get an update after being stonewalled last week.

Nobody was in the office.

Community Meeting February 2

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Many thanks to the over 200 people who came to our community meeting and protest on February 2!

As the City Council is preparing to vote on the Arrow Linen rezoning, our voices matter more than ever, and we could not be more encouraged by the strength of our neighborhood.

Special thanks to Bobby Carroll for his unwavering support for our community!

Please read BK Reader’s coverage of the event.

Next Steps After City Council Hearing

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On January 9, the City Council held the final public hearing on the Arrow Linen Rezoning.

Here is what you can do next, and important updates. We need your help now more than ever in these final days of the rezoning process!

What can you do?

Important updates:

Read more

City Council Land Use Committee Emails

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Following are the email addresses of Council Member Shahana Hanif, and all of the members of the Subcommittees for Land Use, and Zoning and Franchises in the NYC City Council. The Subcommittee for Zoning and Franchises is a sub-group of the Subcommittee for Land Use.

It may be helpful to send email to these Council Members. If you do, please include Shahana on the mail so that she sees that we’re reaching out.

Read more

City Council Hearing on Arrow Rezoning

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The City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the Arrow Linen rezoning on Thursday, Jan 9, from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (click here to add to calendar) in the Council Chambers in City Hall. We need everyone to send written testimony to the City Council – and everyone who can to come and testify against the rezoning! Testimony is limited to 2 minutes, and everyone will have a chance to speak.

If you can’t make it in person, you can participate remotely. Please see the City Council’s Planning & Land Use webpage. for instructions to register to attend and testify via Zoom. Pre-registration is required to join via Zoom! If there’s any way you can come to the meeting in person, your being there will have even more impact!

As important as it is to show up to the City Council’s Franchising and Zoning committee’s public hearing, it’s vitally important that you submit written testimony to the City Council!

Please click here to send the following email:

To: landusetestimony@council.nyc.gov
Cc: district39@council.nyc.gov, mperez@council.nyc.gov

Subject: Arrow Linen Rezoning, 441 & 467 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn

To the NYC City Council:

I am opposed to the rezoning application at the Arrow Linen site at 441 & 467 Prospect Avenue in Brooklyn.

I welcome new housing in my neighborhood and am looking forward to seeing contextual housing built on the Arrow Linen site that works for the community. If you limit the rezoning to 7 stories and increase the percentage of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing from 25% to 40%, this will result in more affordable units than Arrow's proposal, and at a scale that does not threaten to displace existing renters.

I ask you to disapprove Arrow Linen's radical upzoning application for the following reasons:

Lack of Community Engagement:

This is a greedy move by Arrow Linen to massively profit from the facility they have owned for 40+ years, while operating off a 25-year tax abatement subsidized by city taxpayers. Arrow has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying elected officials, and did not spend any time or resources meeting with the community. Arrow stands to profit hundreds of millions of dollars from this application, and the community has had zero input on this transformational project. I ask the Council listen to Brooklyn CB7’s findings and uphold DCP’s stated mission “Work with neighborhoods to develop sound ground-up frameworks for growth”. 

Renter Displacement:

The block around Arrow Linen has 59 units of rent-stabilized housing, and Prospect Avenue has the most affordable rents in the neighborhood. If Arrow is allowed to build 15 stories of luxury high-rises, this will encourage speculators to price out our neighbors. Arrow Linen is also proposing to rezone 11 privately-owned, multi-family buildings, and these owners have already been victims of predatory speculators.  These buildings are at great risk of acquisition and tenant displacement due to this application. Please vote to limit this application to no more than 7 stories so we can treat housing as a public good rather than a vehicle for massive profit.

Environmental Impacts:

Stormwater issues and flooding are frequent occurrences across the neighborhood. There will be thousands of new fixtures flowing into the ancient, combined sewer system. Our sewer systems are beyond capacity and this project will exacerbate unsanitary flooding. Arrow is also kicking the can down the road for environmental contamination impacts from over 100 years of dumping hazardous waste. There is no plan and no experienced entity to address remediation.

Contextual Zoning and Neighborhood Character:

I welcome more housing at this site; however, Arrow’s proposal will irreversibly alter the character of the neighborhood and undo prior DCP and community-led rezoning efforts. Arrow claims that up to 15-story towers on a midblock amongst 2 to 3-story surroundings buildings would “match the residential context and character of the neighborhood”. This is an objectively negligent and reckless assessment. I ask for a revised, contextual zoning district based on a rational land use framework. Limiting the upzoning to 7 stories will bring more housing to the neighborhood without triggering a domino effect of developers converting the moderate apartment buildings in the neighborhood to luxury high-rises.

The Myth of Trickle-Down Affordable Housing:

Developers and lobbyists would have us believe that the only way to pull ourselves out of our dire housing shortage is by building new construction. For-profit new construction is overwhelmingly geared toward the luxury market, which has the highest vacancy rates. But it’s lower-income households who face the most severe affordable housing shortfalls, and we have a crisis of affordability. Please vote to disapprove this application so we can treat housing as a public good rather than a vehicle for massive profit.

Limiting the rezoning to 7 stories and increasing the percentage of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing from 25% to 40% will result in more affordable units than Arrow's proposal, and at a scale the does not threaten to displace existing renters. Only the profits of Arrow Linen's owners will be reduced, and the community will be better served than by building 15 stories of luxury housing.

Send Email to Council Member Hanif

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We are disappointed to announce that on December 16, 2024 the City Planning Commission voted to approve Arrow Linen’s rezoning, at the requested zoning designation of R7-1. Now that City of Yes has passed, this now means 15 stories and almost 10% more buildable square feet than they even asked for. We now need your support more than ever as the application moves to its final phase with Council Member Hanif!

We Need You!

It is now vitally important for us to get the support of our Council Member Shahana Hanif to limit this rezoning. She decides what gets approved in this process, can dictate changes to the scale and scope of the rezoning, and the full Council generally votes with the local member on land use decisions.

We urge you to send email, call and send letters. Her email is district39@council.nyc.gov. Her phone number is (718) 499-1090. Her postal address is 197 Bond St, Brooklyn, NY 11217.

We have an email you can send to the Council Member with one click (feel free to edit as you like). Please click here to send an email to Council Member Hanif. If you have problems wtih the email link, please click here for a message you can copy and paste in your email.

After December 30, the land use review process (ULURP) moves on to Shahana Hanif and the City Council. We are keeping a close eye on the City Council’s calendar for 2025 to see when the hearing and vote will be scheduled. We will send you an email as we learn more. If you are not on our mailing list, please sign our Petition Against Rezoning of 441 and 467 Prospect Avenue and include your email address; we will add you to our mailing list.