This morning the Post has a story on the construction-site blight that has pockmarked Brooklyn. DOB stats show Brooklyn has the most stalled construction sites of any of borough, with Williamsburg/Greenpoint leading the tally among neighborhoods. The DOB has identified 63 stalled sites in Brooklyn, 18 of which are in Williamsburg-Greenpoint. By contrast, Manhattan has a total of 39 stalled sites, the Bronx and Queens each have 14, and Staten Island has 13 all together. Residents and the DOB are concerned about safety and quality-of-life issues associated with the stalled sites. “The problem we’re having now is that we’re starting to get squatters in these buildings and lots,” said Williamsburg neighborhood activist Philip DePaolo, who compared the current-day situation in the neighborhood to the Bronx in the late ’70s. “Blight draws crime, and if you have blocks and blocks of vacant lots with no people, that creates a problem.” In February the DOB created a stalled-sites unit to try and keep the lots safe while nothing is doing. The City Council, meanwhile, has drawn up a bill that would give developers incentives—like granting unlimited extensions on permits—for maintaining safety at their no-go lots.
‘Lots’ of Woe in W’Burg [NY Post]
Photo by danwitz.