Stand for More Housing and Stop Aggressive Re-Zoning in our Neighborhood
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.
On Thursday, Sept 12, the Board of Trustees of the Park Slope Civic Council adopted a resolution, concluding “that the upzoning request as currently proposed should be rejected and the parties
should negotiate an alternative that would create a significant number of new units of
affordable housing without creating an island of high-rise development completely out of
context with this historic Windsor Terrace neighborhood.”
We thank the Park Slope Civic Council for their efforts and their support of this issue that is so important to Windsor Terrace and South Slope, and which has immediate implications for all neighborhoods in Brooklyn and New York City.
We submitted this essay in response to They’re Starting a New York ‘Housing League.’ NIMBYs Not Allowed., Mihir Zaveri, 2/14/24. The New York Times declined to publish it, so we can publish it here.
In Windsor Terrace in Brooklyn, Housing Not High-Rises is a community organization of renters and homeowners fighting in favor of building housing that would preserve the existing stock of rent-stabilized and affordable housing in the neighborhood. We are working towards a solution that provides housing on the site Arrow Linen is preparing to sell, that does not displace current residents.
We hope for the support of those we have elected to represent us in finding a more comprehensive, equitable and sustainable solution to the city’s housing crisis, rather than an illegal spot zoning designed to enrich an individual landowner. The Adams Administration is certifying City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, proposing to “create a little more housing in every neighborhood.” Vishaan Chakrabarti has published a plan to house a million more New Yorkers “without radically changing the character of the city’s neighborhoods.” These types of comprehensive, city-wide efforts can move the needle in this housing crisis.
Unfortunately, under the pressure of current circumstances, communities are now being railroaded into accepting board-clearing changes more than anytime since the era of Robert Moses’ top-down urban renewals. As we’re learning here in Windsor Terrace, without a collective voice, existing contextual zoning guidelines enacted less than 20 years ago are just temporary; place-holders until market conditions are ripe for a bountiful harvest. This money-making scheme is aided by the current political climate eager to score ‘progressive’ bona fides and abetted by organized real estate interests.
In August 2023, Arrow Linen Supply Company in Brooklyn, a long-time neighborhood fixture, filed a spot zoning application which would enable their property to be built to over four times the size allowed by current zoning. Arrow Linen is not seeking to develop the property itself, but intends to sell it to a developer as they close this site and leave the neighborhood. The community welcomes housing on this site, and would prefer affordable housing. Under the proposal, the small percentage of mandatory inclusionary housing required would neither be affordable for the workers at Arrow Linen, nor would they offset the loss of the 59 rent-stabilized and other affordable apartments that would be in jeopardy should this application be approved.
Approving this proposal as submitted would create a citywide precedent for speculators to purchase buildings, apply for spot zoning of their properties, and displace current tenants to build more luxury high-rises.
As noted in New York State’s Zoning and the Comprehensive Plan, spot zoning is illegal when “the change is other than part of a well-considered and comprehensive plan calculated to serve the general welfare of the community.” Arrow Linen’s application clearly benefits an individual landowner who has already taken advantage of the community; operating a commercial enterprise in a residential zone with the continued support of the neighborhood, and participating in a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program that has saved them millions of dollars in taxes over more than 20 years, which the rest of the city has paid for.
At a recent neighbor’s meeting on the block where Arrow Linen’s property is located, long-time tenants who had moved to this neighborhood from other parts of Brooklyn shared their concerns. A former Greenpoint resident noted that when his neighborhood was rezoned in 2005, community members were concerned that luxury high-rises would be built and that existing residents would be displaced. That is precisely what happened then, and is what the neighbors of Arrow Linen are concerned about now.
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:
First, THANK YOU to our 40+ neighbors who attended the hearing, to those who testified, and to the nearly 600 members of our community who submitted testimony. Thank you also to Council Member Kevin Riley who graciously facilitated the hearing.
Our neighbors spoke about the need to:
We also spoke about Arrow Linen’s complete lack of community engagement, and our frustration about our community being ignored by decision makers in the rezoning process.
We were loud and clear: we want 7-9 stories with more affordability. Our voices matter.
What about Council Member Hanif?
Council Member Hanif said that she received feedback from hundreds of community members with concerns about the minimum affordable housing and high building height included in the application. Council Member Hanif said “with the right modifications, this project can add to the fabric of our neighborhood while also delivering much needed permanently affordable housing.”
We agree! And, our community wants those modifications to be 7-9 story buildings with at least 40% affordable housing.
What’s coming next?
Recent Press and Helpful Links:
We can’t stress enough how important your voice is in this process. Shahana Hanif and the City Council need to hear from everyone who cares about this rezoning. This is our community, and we should get to decide.