Planning moves to protect Brooklyn neighborhood

At least 30 speakers testified on proposal backed by residents and local elected officials. On June 4, 2008, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of City Planning’s proposal to define an area of Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens as having “narrow streets” under the zoning law. The proposal would result in a lowering of the permitted building heights and densities, making as-of-right development consistent with neighborhood character. Currently zoned R6, with portions … <Read More>


Council Denies Sidewalk Cafe Permit for Court Street Restaurant

City Council reacted to application’s inaccurate architectural renderings and restaurant’s history of noise complaints. On August 22, 2012, the City Council denied Buschenschank restaurant’s application for an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 320 Court Street between Degraw and Sackett Streets in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The application called for 24 tables and 48 chairs fronting Court Street.

At the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing, a representative of local Council Member Brad Lander and a representative … <Read More>


Council OKs housing project along Gowanus Canal

Aerial view of Toll Brothers’ proposed development. Image:GreenbergFarrow.

Council approves waterfront project despite community’s concerns about affordable housing component. On March 11, 2009, the City Council approved Toll Brothers’ proposed development at 363-365 Bond Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The 525,309-sq.ft. development will provide 447 residential units, including 130 affordable units. The project, located on two blocks along the Gowanus Canal, bounded by Carroll, Second, and Bond Streets, includes two five-story buildings, a series of … <Read More>


Artists ok’ed to convert manufacturing building

4-story building to be converted to 2 dwellings. Four artists sought to convert a four-story industrial building into two dwelling units in an M1-2 zoning district in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Located at 469 Carroll Street between Nevins and Third Avenue, the building is separated from the established residential district in Carroll Gardens by the Gowanus Canal and sits slightly west of Park Slope’s residential core. Until 2003, a manufacturer of machine components had occupied the … <Read More>


LPC Holds Public Hearing for Melrose Parkside Historic District

The “Kinko” duplex houses are a unique product of Brooklyn featuring vertically stacked two-story apartments. On October 18, 2022, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing for the proposed Melrose Parkside Historic District in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn. The proposed historic district would consist of 38 houses along both sides of Parkside Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue. It includes the properties from 357 to 413 Parkside Avenue on the <Read More>


City Shifts Funding to Address Urgent Affordable Housing Needs

$466 million moved back into the 2021 Fiscal Year’s capital budget. On October 22, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the acceleration of capital funding within the City’s affordable housing plan by shifting $466 million to the current fiscal year’s capital budget to address urgent affordable housing needs. In March, the City moved $466 million from the Department of Housing Preservation and Developments Fiscal Year 2021 budget to the Fiscal Years 2022 through 2024. However, … <Read More>