Slope Church Garden Goes Condo
A tipster writes in to say that “a beautiful garden with several mature trees” has been cleared on 8th Avenue and 10th Street to make way for a new residential development. And she’s right: Slope-based developer New York Property Fund recently purchased the site from the neighboring Church Of Gethsemane and is about to begin…
A tipster writes in to say that “a beautiful garden with several mature trees” has been cleared on 8th Avenue and 10th Street to make way for a new residential development. And she’s right: Slope-based developer New York Property Fund recently purchased the site from the neighboring Church Of Gethsemane and is about to begin construction on a 10-unit condo that includes three townhouses, according to NYPF partner John O’Reilly. O’Reilly said the luxury condos are going to range in size from around 1,300 to 1,800 square feet, while the townhouses are going to top out at 2,300 feet. A spokesperson for the church says they sold the property in order to raise funds. “We sold it because we’re a poor congregation, but we’re also right next door, so of course we’re hoping for the best,” she said. O’Reilly said that although renderings for the development haven’t been finalized, the design will be in keeping with the area’s overall aesthetic. “We’re local, and we have respect for the street,” he said. GMAP P*Shark DOB
As for the wealthy Park Slopers I can’t speak to what they have done for the church, but this Park Sloper (who’s hardly wealthy and doesn’t own a $2M home) having lived in the neighborhood since the church took up its mission to serve the ex-convicts (and for long before that), can attest to the utter and complete lack of any outreach to the community. Had they asked for help they would have gotten it I suspect, just the way all other not-fors ask and receive. Of course those here who say that Slopians would not have offered any assistance are merely reflecting their own lack of charitable giving onto others.
So many opionions, so little sense. Sounds like the developers and their cronies have yet again tainted an honest debate.
2:49 The affluent park slopers did not help the church in their mission (Jeez it’s organized religion, right up there with Bush, Chaney, and Osama) but want to impose thier own sense or rightousness on the action that was taken. If the new owner was the Land for Public Trust turning it into a community garden (and let’s be real, they are not all that communal unless you think alike) they would be applauding now. The fact that is turned out to be a developer instead seems to give people some feeling of moral superiority that allows the bloviation of palaver. Don’t hold your breath for the Ayn Rand followers, because the pretense here is we are “The Collective We”.
Wah, Wah, Wah, my property value is going up so high I can’t take it anymore. I may actually have to sell it and retire early to some poor soul who will work the rest of his/her life to pay off their mortgage. 2:43 is correct except maybe some of these people are still renting and may want to wait until they got theirs before they get religion.
This situation has already been much discussed in local newspapers. The reality is that the church serves a completely underprivileged, despised, impoverished community — namely, ex-offenders — and to continue with that mission they must raise money. In a perfect world, affluent PS neighbors could have chosen to help fund their work without the necessity of selling the lot. But they didn’t, so the church had to sell. And — if we are to believe all the pro-development/pro-density pundits on this site — the new units going up will increase the overall housing supply, thus easing pressure at all levels of the market. Isn’t that how it’s meant to work? Jeez, where are the Ann Rand disciples when you need ’em?
After I bought my townhouse, I sent a letter to City Hall suggesting that New York City’s population be capped, by law, at exactly what it was the second I signed the closing papers.
If only they had listened to me, this city would still be perfect!
Maybe you treehuggers should pool your money together and buy this parcel back and donate it to the greater good you so fondly speak of. I can’t believe that someone actually complained that the church didn’t share with everyone in the neighborhood. That is usually reserved for the congregation that makes up the church. Did you attend services and donate to the general fund? I would like to see what happens when it is your money that we are talking about. If you own a house and have a yard, I suggest you open it up to eveyone in the neighborhood so that everyone who rents can have a yard too. Then at least you wouldn’t be talking out of your arse.
Bunch of Atheists get religion when the church properties are up for sale to developers and the rose gardens get paved. As for questionable non profit activity, don’t cherrypick which activity you wish to question.
When we were Slopers, that used to be our corner…always a nice little moment of peace walking past it after getting out of the subway at 8th Ave and 9th St., it gave the impression of being little used but a bit of “breathing space” on the street. Sad to see it go, although I can see the inevitability of the church’s decision…somewhere between a city with vast stretches of burnt-out nothingness and a bristling grid of high-end overdevelopment on every square inch, there’s a sweet spot where there are still a few gentle and overgrown places to dream about as you walk by, I wish we could stay in that place awhile longer…