Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

The de Blasio administration furthers efforts to create more public park space for the North Brooklyn community. On October 31, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he will allocate $17.5 million for the development and remediation of two parcels of parkland at Bushwick Inlet Park. $7.7 million of the allocated funds will go towards developing the 50 Kent site into a new park while the remaining $9.8 million will go toward the remediation and development of two parcels of parkland at the Motiva site.

Last year, the City purchased the final parcel of land needed for the total acquisition of the park site. Since then, 3.5 acres have been completed and the park has been opened to the public. Currently, the park has a multi-purpose field and an environmentally-friendly building for community activities and incorporates both natural and urban elements of the surrounding community. (more…)

Boulevard Houses in East NY, Brooklyn. Image Credit: NYCHA

Installation of safety lighting part of citywide plan to reduce violence at targeted NYCHA developments. On July 13, 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Housing Authority announced the completed installation of 504 new lights to improve public safety at Boulevard Houses in East New York Brooklyn. The installation is part of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP) which was initiated in 2014. (more…)

Four-building complex is rare reminder of Brooklyn’s once-major industry. On May 11, 2010, Landmarks designated the former William Ulmer Brewery at 31 Belvidere Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn as an individual City landmark. The brewery comprises four buildings constructed between 1872 and 1890: an office building, a brew house and addition, an engine and machine house, and a stable and storage facility. Brooklyn-based architects William Engelhardt and Frederick Wunder designed the complex around a courtyard in the American round-arch style with characteristic brick cladding. The complex is highlighted by the redbrick Romanesque Revival-style office building, which features a slate mansard roof and terra cotta panels and ornamentation. An ornate iron gate, believed to be original to the complex, remains at the site.

In the decades before Prohibition, northern Brooklyn breweries were major beer producers, supplying ten percent of the beer consumed in the United States at their peak. Railway access contributed to Brooklyn’s prominence in brewing, as well as the influx of German immigrants to the area in the mid-1800s. (more…)

Architect claimed that residential building would be first in the United States to conform to strict “Passive House” design standards. On March 24, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council to build a six-story affordable housing project on a vacant City-owned site at 803 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The 28,390 sq.ft. project, known as Knickerbocker Commons, would include a 4,957 sq.ft. senior citizen center, 3,769 sq.ft. of recreation space, and seven parking spaces. All 24 rental units would be affordable to households earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. Fifteen percent of the units would be set aside for the disabled.

At the Commission’s March 10 hearing, Henry Gifford, representing architect Chris Benedict, said the project would be the country’s first apartment building to fully conform to the strict “Passive House” design standards used in Europe to promote energy efficient development. A passive house is a well-insulated, virtually airtight building that relies on passive sources, such as sunlight, people, and electrical equipment, for heat. Gifford briefly explained that the proposed building’s design included applying thick foam insulation next to the outside of the building’s walls, not just between the studs, and placing windows in the appropriate position to take advantage of seasonal variations in the amount of direct sunlight the building would receive. Each rental unit would also have its own thermostat and ventilation system to prevent overheating. (more…)

State court judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the plan the day after full Council approval. On December 21, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s rezoning plan for the Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The plan includes rezoning nine blocks, primarily zoned for manufacturing, to R6A and R7A districts in order to facilitate the development of 1,851 residential units, 844 of which will be marketed as affordable. Of those, 488 affordable units will be developed on 35 properties that will be disposed of by the City to private developers. Prior to the plan’s approval, HPD issued site authorization letters to the United Jewish Organizations (UJO) and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC) to develop 181 affordable units on three assemblages of lots in the urban renewal area.

Opponents of the proposal expressed concern about HPD’s planning process and argued that the proposal would not provide enough affordable housing. The Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, a group representing more than 40 community-based organizations, said the planning process lacked transparency, noting that HPD did not use a competitive bid process when it granted site control to the UJO and RBSCC. On September 9, 2009, before the City Planning Commission approved the plan, the Coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the proposal. The Coalition claimed the proposal violated federal law because of its racially and religiously discriminatory impacts and accused the City of excluding several community groups from participating in the proposal’s planning. (more…)