On Friday, Hannah Senesh, a 152-seat private Jewish day school in Carroll Gardens, announced it was officially dropping its plans to try to circumvent a 160-year-old zoning law in an effort to erect a two-story building on an empty lot at the corner of Smith Street and First Place. News that the school had hired a lobbyist in December to gain an exemption to the city law that treats all front yards on the “Place” blocks of Carroll Gardens as public space resulted in a huge backlash from area residents and lots of bad publicity for the school and outgoing City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who had sponsored the change. We were most afraid that once law changed for [Hannah Senesh] other people would get the same idea and it would be changed again, and the signature courtyards would vanish, corner by corner, Triada Samaras, a member of the group Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development, told The Brooklyn Paper. Since then State Senator Daniel Squadron, State Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Councilman Brad Lander have all come out against amending the law. “Their plan would have set a dangerous precedent,” said Millman in a statement on Friday. “The courtyards are an integral part of Carroll Garden’s charm and character and must be protected.”
School Comes to Its Seneshes [Brooklyn Paper] GMAP
Hannah Sennesh Backs Off Plans to Expand [PMFA]
Photo from Pardon Me For Asking