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Developer Rabsky’s push to rezone two blocks in the Broadway Triangle area could have some very interesting unintended consequences, according to an article in Crain’s yesterday. Development there has been all but frozen for years, thanks to clashes between various stakeholders, controversy and lawsuits. Rabsky’s request will reopen that debate and, although Rabsky is only asking for 12-story buildings, could pave the way for the entire area to be covered in massive low-income towers, according to Crain’s.

The article also has one of the best summaries we have ever seen of the years-long, highly contentious and complicated fight over the development of the area. To quote:

The Broadway Triangle has been a hotbed of controversy since 2009, when the city rezoned a strip of land near the proposed development. Critics — who hoped to see market-rate and affordable housing units built on both city- and privately-owned sites — have argued that the rezoning discriminates against black and Hispanic communities and favors a portion of the Hasidic community. Their qualms include giving priority to a particular community board’s district for the planned affordable units, selecting developers without a bidding process, and allowing for shorter buildings with larger apartments to favor Hasidic families. (Some will not ride in an elevator on the Sabbath, or will only use an elevator that stops on every floor so they don’t have to press the buttons, making tall buildings impractical for them.) Other organizations have called those charges anti-Semitic, and the city has argued it acted properly throughout the process. The case is still ongoing, but in 2012 a judge stopped development on three public sites and noted that the city likely violated the Fair Housing Act.

Taller Buildings May Be Welcome in This Brooklyn Nabe [Crain’s]
Pfizer Coverage [Brownstoner]
Broadway Triangle Coverage [Brownstoner]
Photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark


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