Rendering of 1050 Pacific Street in Brooklyn. Image Credit: CPC.

The new building is intended to revitalize a largely vacant block along Pacific Street in Brooklyn. On May 2, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve a rezoning of the western portion of a block bounded by Pacific Street to the north, Dean Street to the south, Franklin Avenue to the east, and Classon Avenue to the west in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The applicant proposed to rezone the area from a manufacturing district, M1-1, to a mixed-use residential and manufacturing district, M1-4/R7A. The rezoning will facilitate a new eight-story development at 1050 Pacific Street with 103 residential units and ground floor commercial space. The development is located a block away from 1010 Pacific Street and is also part of Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Department of City Planning’s M Crown study. (read more…)

Rendering of the originally-proposed eleven-story building at 1010 Pacific Street. Image Credit: Studio V Architecture/CPC.

City Planning modified the proposed rezoning so the development would better conform with the vision for the neighborhood, which is currently undergoing a land use study. On May 2, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve an application for a rezoning that will facilitate the development of a new nine-story, mixed-use building in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The applicant initially sought to rezone an area comprised of approximately 12 lots on the northeastern portion of a block bounded by Pacific Street to the north, Dean Street to the south, Classon Avenue to the east, and Grand Avenue to the west from a manufacturing district, M1-1, to a mixed residential and commercial district, R7D/C2-4. The applicant’s proposed rezoning would have facilitated the development of an eleven-story residential building with a commercial space and a community facility on the ground floor at 1010 Pacific Street. On April 8, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the rezoning after modifying it from an R7D/C2-4 district to an R7A/C2-4 district, limiting the building to nine stories. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed buildings at 931 Carroll Street and 40 Crown Street. Image Credit: CP VI Crown Heights, LLC/NYC CPC.

If approved, the rezoning will make way for construction of over 500 new apartments in Crown Heights. On September 26, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on a rezoning application for Franklin Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The rezoning would allow construction of two new 16-story buildings at 40 Crown Street and 931 Carroll Street. Both buildings are a block east of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. (read more…)

Senior Center at 196 Albany Avenue, across the street from a 14-story NYCHA building. Image credit: GoogleMaps

City Planning approved new 20-year lease for a Crown Heights senior center. On September 6, 2017, the City Planning Commission approved an application from the Department for the Aging and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to continue the use of a senior center at 196 Albany Avenue in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. The application sought a new 20-year lease for the center which has been operating at the site since 1972. (read more…)

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaking at New York Law School. Image credit: CityLaw

Schneiderman announces guilty verdict for Brooklyn landlord who harassed rent-stabilized tenants. On June 20, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the guilty verdict of Brooklyn landlord Daniel Melamed on three counts of Unlawful Eviction of rent-stabilized tenants. Melamed is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13, 2017 and could face up to one year in jail. (read more…)

Sketch of new building adjacent to smaller existing Section 8 building. Image credit: Bedford Arms LLC

Zoning Subcommittee heard proposal on new Brooklyn nine-story affordable building. On May 30, 2017, the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee heard testimony on an application by Bedford Arms, LLC, to develop a nine-story building with 48 income-restricted dwelling units and 46 government assisted units in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Stuart Beckerman, of Slater & Beckerman P.C., presented the project to the subcommittee. The applicant sought to up-zone the development site and to designate the site as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Area. (read more…)