Rezoning for Brighton Beach?
Kensington’s doing it. So is Flatbush (and Gowanus and Greenpoint/Williamsburg, too). And now Brighton Beach is slated for the rezoning bandwagon, too. City Limits reports that that proposal is “an attempt to limit destructive overdevelopment by setting clear limits on construction and creating height restrictions for buildings in the area. Most of the neighborhood is…
Kensington‘s doing it. So is Flatbush (and Gowanus and Greenpoint/Williamsburg, too). And now Brighton Beach is slated for the rezoning bandwagon, too. City Limits reports that that proposal is “an attempt to limit destructive overdevelopment by setting clear limits on construction and creating height restrictions for buildings in the area. Most of the neighborhood is now zoned without any height limits.” The limits were removed in the 1970s to stimulate development. Guess it worked, with an influx of young money and immigrants tilting the nabe away from the low-rise housing that once dominated and toward projects like the Oceana, in the photo above. Thus it’s been the victim of the speculation that’s harmed other Brooklyn neighborhoods, with half-finished or vacant projects looming over the area. If the rezoning goes through, most of the neighborhood would have to respect a 40-foot height limit, with 80 feet on commercial streets and 100 feet over on Brighton Beach Avenue, the throbbing hub of the ‘hood. But some folks think it’s too little, too late. “Asked whether the proposal will solve the development situation in Brighton, [CB13’s district manager, Chuck Reichenthal] said: ‘No, it won’t.’
Rezoning Too Late for Brighton Beach? [City Limits]
I THINK THE KEY WORD IS almost………….
It’s late, but you’re still getting an unofficial grade: your poor grammar shows obvious carelessness. It takes ALMOST NO EFFORT to pay attention to capitalization, periods, and commas. Have some respect for your audience.
your the teacher you can figure it out.
i didnt realize i was getting a grade on this.
you can skip my comments i promise you wont hurt my feelings.
Local Broker,
For the love of G-d, could you please edit your sentences? Reading your comments hurts my eyes! (Yes, I am a teacher).
i totally agree with you benson those small houses are garbage and dangerous as for the guy who wrote that article i dont know what his motives are but he definitely got it wrong
i went to the city zoning site and there is nothing there for brighton beach by the time they get to it we will be in the next real estate cycle it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few years
Thanks, Benson. I still disagree with you that the article has an “ax to grind,” which seems different to me than having a point of view. I’m fond of some of those old beach bungalows (especially those in far rockaway) and generally air on the side of cautious development: i like dynamism, contrast, but i also like neighborhoods that evolve slowly and don’t leap to tear downs and manhattan-ish versions of themselves. i think we agree on some things–you don’t seem fond of the big buildings in the area, either. anyway, if the author of the article indeed included buildings that have nothing to do with the rezoning, probably good to tell him/her. The private property versus public good quagmire is an old and complicated one. We’re not really a property rights kinda town, alas, as places like Phoenix are. Usually the denser and area, the less attached people are to property rights (and the bluer an area is, coincidentally).
Longtimelistener;
I am not stating that overdevelopment is perhaps not a problem. Some rezoning may be called for in this area. I am not qualified enough to make a judgment on the matter, as I haven’t studied the traffic, schoolroom capacity, etc.
You keep asking about what drives my point of view. I thought about it a bit, and will try to answer it here.
I am a passionate defender of the right of private property. I believe that this right is as fundamental to a society’s well-being as the right of free speech, the right of free association, etc.
I recognize that there must be some regulation of private property, much in the same way that some speech is regulated. For instance, I do believe that reasonable zoning is an appropriate function of government. Having said that, I will fight against those who would restrict development merely out of ignorance, or some ill-thought-out utopian vision, and I see this type of thing creeping often onto these pages. When I see such attacks on private property, I defend this right. If that requires that I must call into question the work of authors, so be it. If it makes me NOT warm and fuzzy, so be it.
In my opinion, this article was worthy of such criticsm. Clearly the author has some type of anti-development ax to grind, and will bend the facts to make his case, as I pointed out. He went so far as to take pictures of twoers that are not even in the area.
Anyone who takes a walk through the section of Brighton Beach in question will see that some sort of development is needed. This section consists of old bungalows, built 100 years ago. Into these poorly built wood-frame structures are crammed 3 or 4 Russian or Pakastani immigrant families. Many of these bungalows face narrow alleys, not the street, and they are firetraps. The electical systems are substandard. It is unbelievable that these structures are still standing in 2008 in NYC. Those who would hinder the redevelopment of this area simply because they have an affinity for lower-density areas, and do not even visit the section in question, are worthy of criticsm.
i think the market has been hit in some way everywhere but this part of the world is unique its dominated by one group of people sure there are different ethnicities in the nabe but by far russian and its ocean/beach front what im saying is these people want to be here near the stores family boardwalk for how long i dont know but like i said before im guessing another 15 years as for trump i think its expensive for a coop high maintenance cost as opposed to condos with no real amenities (pool, gym) there are other coops in the nabe that do have them but the location is good clean buildings doorman security parking if you could get one and its nearly impossible to get a spot its not a bad buy in trump but i hear that the owners of the buildings are going to refi for improvements and the maintenance is going to go up also 60s construction sucked there are condos you can buy for nearly the same money some of those apartments are asking
as far as over development goes one of the problems is alot of the builders are putting up quality stuff and layouts suck that was the problem with oceana in the first phase but they changed up and put in much better materials that was a great development for sure that was just nothing but pure profit there are some spots in the nabe where buildings should have not been put up certain blocks on the side streets were not ready for it and you have amateur wanna be developers doing things like this everywhere not every project can be good but i think most did well
question, though: you guys say overdevelopment’s not a prob, but the community board chair sure believes it is. is it just that the properties mentioned in the article aren’t the best examples, or do you really think it’s not a problem? I get that it’s worse in some neighborhoods, but that wouldn’t preclude rezoning. Anyway, i’m sure your voices would be welcomed in the discussion.