Write the community board, city council, borough president and anyone else involved in the current rezoning process and tell them to pass the plan immediately!!
the rezoning will stop things like this from happening and put the same height limits the side streets in Park Slope and Bay Ridge have on new buildings in Sunset Park!!!! It's time this neighborhood got the same treatment as those surrounding it!
The current zoning is R6 (anything goes) and the proposed is R6B for the side streets (50ft max)... It's a no brainer... Without the rezoning, these sorts of buildings you're worried about will become the norm. There are groups opposing the plan (one called the chinese staffers or something like that), so those homeowners supporting it should make their voices heard, too.

Posted by: Gregorius Maximus at June 22, 2009 7:15 PM in response to Neighbor Building a Monstrosity

Crimsonson,

While that may be true, a lot of this type of development (at least in SP) is not homeowners building/renovating for themselves. It's turning family homes into four through eight unit rentals/condos.

The people doing the building couldn't care less about the integrity (aesthetic or structural) of the buildings around them. They won't be around to see the results.

Posted by: bestviewinbrooklyn at June 23, 2009 9:23 AM in response to Neighbor Building a Monstrosity

As posted on "sunsetpark-brooklyn-matters.blogspot.com"- This sad scenario has played out on 6th Avenue & 54th Street (exact address to come). This block has now been hit twice by greedy and tasteless owners (see blue awning to stage-left/your right of new building). Unfortunately, this facade teardown & additional floor would be legal under the proposed R6A re-zoning, the commercial overlay or commercial use of the 1st floor would not be allowed. These unscrupulous owners will continue to deface block after block even if all they gain is 1 or 2 more housing units into which they'll dangerously pile up many times the allowed number of people. As to devaluing (in dollars) adjacent properties, it hasn't been the case. There are so many other morally and aesthetically-bankrupt buyers whose need to hide ill-gotten cash is so dire that property values won't suffer. Housing prices in Sunset Park (Flushing , Manhattan's Chinatown or other cash-rich enclaves, for that matter) haven't decreased as in other parts of NYC or the nation. What will suffer is the racial, ethnic, generational and economic diversity of Sunset Park that we so want to preserve. If this abuse continues, only buyers looking to hide cash from questionable sources will occupy Sunset Park. This an occupation, folks- and it's being enabled by our own governmental agencies: Buildings Dept., DEP, Dept. of City Planning, City Council, and so on. I wonder what the reaction would be if the above monstrosity was attempted on the Mayor's block or next to the homes of the City's Commissioners or Council Members. Legal or not, would it be allowed to go on? I wonder.

Posted by: Sunset Park Matters at June 23, 2009 11:38 AM in response to Neighbor Building a Monstrosity

I love Sunset Park. My parents were born here, I was born here and intend to stay here as I start my own family. What is happening on my block and others creates a rage in me and, at times, I have to avoid driving on blocks anywhere close to the China town on 8th avenue because I turn into Archie Bunker. I live between 4th and 5th aves and it seems the Chinese want to move their operation down to 4th. They currently have the right to build whatever they want, the cheapest shoddy construction they want and without regard to their neighbors. I would love to buy my house from my parents, but it seems that the neighborhood I know and love may not survive. The new homeowners do not intend to contribute anything to the community. They intend to leech anything they can out of it. Standard of living is out the window. It's sad to see and I hope the rezoning will shed some light on the illegal building/occupancy, etc. I would love to join a cause, volunteer to check on permits, file complaints, etc. because this grassroots approach seems to be the only way to protect our properties. The city isn't gonna do it. I may just end up like Archie, proven wrong and defeated at the end of every episode.

Posted by: Just around the Corner at June 24, 2009 12:05 PM in response to Neighbor Building a Monstrosity

Dear "Just around the Corner"- Check out - Sunset Park Alliance of Neighbors www.spanbrooklyn.com / spanbrooklyn@yahoo.com / (718) 853-0949, a grassroots group organizing around this issue AND also contribute photos (before/after, under construction) with URLs for Permits/Violations/Stop Work/Orders to sunsetparkmatters@gmail.com for posting on the blog- http:// SUNSETPARK-BROOKLYN-MATTERS.BLOGSPOT.COM. There's a lot each of us can do, starting with telling our neighbors what's going on.

Posted by: Sunset Park Matters at June 24, 2009 11:49 PM in response to Neighbor Building a Monstrosity