Year of Living Dangerously in Greenwood Heights
This week in the Brooklyn Rail, Greenwood Heights homeowner Aaron Brashear describes the experiences over the past year that led him to found Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights: Unholy development alliances have formed: Brooklyn mega-developer Isaac Katan teams with architect-of-ill-repute Henry Radusky of Bricolage Designs and demolition mogul Marie Grosso (MMG Designs). Real estate forecasters…
This week in the Brooklyn Rail, Greenwood Heights homeowner Aaron Brashear describes the experiences over the past year that led him to found Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights:
Unholy development alliances have formed: Brooklyn mega-developer Isaac Katan teams with architect-of-ill-repute Henry Radusky of Bricolage Designs and demolition mogul Marie Grosso (MMG Designs). Real estate forecasters and consulting firm The Developers Group finds properties for acquisition in next year’s hot neighborhood, then links buyers with high-end architects and builders…Such alliances are exploiting communities, utilizing loop holes in zoning and the Department of Buildings (DOB) building codes and working at a fast track pace that has created numerous dangerous job sites. These violation-ridden sites not only jeopardize workers, adjacent properties and neighboring residents, but the community as a whole.
He goes on to lament the understaffed DOB’s inability to respond in a timely or effective manner to the numerous violations reported by neighborhood residents. He also documents the zeitgeisty vegetable grocer who closes his shop in favor of erecting a 5-story, 35-unit condo. Sign o’ the times indeed.
Up with Downsizing [Brooklyn Rail]
Iceberg is completely wrong. You DO own your community by virtue of living in it: you own property and you pay taxes, you are responsible for it and consequently have rights. Developers who exploit zoning laws that have been agreed upon, or safety rules that have been fought for, ARE predatory soulless money grubbing punks. Workers may choose their line of work, but developers and their shell-like contractors and sub-contractors also choose to work in New York City, which has regulations protecting lives and liberty that are regularly flouted. That human beings are literally dying to build small homes in a city where union laborers are rarely injured on skyscrapers is a crime against the larger community. It is the greatest but not the sole crime committed by developers against Brooklyn.
Iceberg, It wasn’t like we were forced, more like rats abandoning a sinking ship. In NYC today, anyway, it seems you can always find someone willing to pay more for less. How about this scenario. A neighborhood, lets call it “$$$$”, composed of mainly tun of the last century brownstones decides to enact or change existing zoning laws for what ever reason, lets say to limit growth and protect their monopoly of existing housing stock. This essentially closes the door on any new development in “$$$$”. Protective zoning walls go up around its borders one of them being the middle of 15th Street. Now suddenly, developers of new homes must turn to the community next door, on the other side of 15th Street to find places to build. Proximity to ‘$$$$” makes ‘$$’ suddenly look like a great place to live. Demand is greater than supply Neighborhood “$$” is threatened by what it fears as uncontrolled growth. They too pass new down-zoning laws to limit development. Now neighborhood ‘$$’ is safe but next door Community ‘$’ feels threatened, but it’s really to late for them and anyway who really wants to live in a ‘$’ Neighborhood. Zoning laws were invented in NYC back in 1916. What they are becoming is a carrot on the end of a stick to lure developers into building affordable housing. If we really cared about our poor, “City Planning” would think of some better way. Last one to the zoning table is a rotten egg!
–“Such alliances are exploiting communities,”
–Another stupid cliche and yet meaningless phrase- –how does one exploit an aggregrate of homes
Hmmm….I think that the folks behind these developments would strenuously object if somebody decided to plop a 6 story bldg. next to their home out there in the ‘burbs with its precious 2 acre minimum size lots.
Iceberg, you are always so entertaining. I wish I hadn’t exercised my free will by smokin’ pot before my economics 101 class. Knowing that big government is bad, and eminent domain laws are tools of a corrupt big government… than can you explain my situation. My wife and I bought a condo in a newly renovated building across from the Atlantic Rail-yards some time ago. After the closing we realized that our home was really built in a substandard way. Almost everything was crooked or scratched or began to break. We essentially had bought a lemon. We panicked at the time we bought because we thought we would be priced out of the market. When a certain Mr. Developer decided that he would need our building for his new arena project we were more than happy to sell…at a very hansom profit. Eminent domain, an idea that I believe is against everything this country was founded on, has helped me double my original investment while allowing another private citizen to build as he sees fit.
Soon enough, it will all be moot as the downzoning gets ratified by the City Council on 11/16, effective immediately. Katan is only holding a $15 million dollar mortgage for 178-186 15th street (it’s in the public record – check the DoFinance), has spent a few million to get the site prepped (2.5 months of hazardous material spreading demolition), began excevation without notifying the surrounding neighbors (just an oversight I’m sure), and now has a supposedly unpermitted, half finished foundation in the ground for a building that he will have to defend i front of the board of Standards & Appeals because he will miss the deadline to be “grandfathered” (pesky STOP-WORK orders:{) Oh well, tough nuggets for him and his investors who hoped to be done in 18 months. Appeals. Lawyers. Outraged neighbors. More lawyers. Delays. Protests. Turning real estate market. Lower prices. Higher inventory. White elephants. Angry developers. Less parking. More delays. Changes. Restrictions. Real estate market getting a bit scary. Where are the buyers?!? Corners cut. Shoddy work. Investigations. C of O delays. 18 months becomes 24, becomes, 30, becomes EXPENSIVE. Suckers won’t pay $1000 per sqr. Or $800. Or $650. Inventory is off the charts as people want out (and nobody wants in). Developers decide to rent (or have fire sale) as their profit margin erodes…fast. The few pre-sale buyers want out of their contracts when they realize they over paid for 15th St. Developers want out, as they are sick of the headaches from this project, CB, neighbors(hood). Real estate market has gone down 25-40% (came down as fast as it went up) back to 1999 levels, and here we are.
I am resident/owner in greenwood heights. I believe the rezoning is necessary, the building over stories are way to tall for areas predominantly 2/3 stories homes. Yet, not all the new construction in the area is bad. Some of the new buildings are quite nice, especially if you witness what was there before. The new residents/owners that are coming in are impacting what types of businesses are coming to the area. Oh no it’s not another deli or $.99 cent store it’s a cafe/bagel shop/restaurant etc. The area which is sandwiched between park slope and sunset park, is developing it own unique mix. This transformation is not all negative.
Regarding DOB ignoring violations, the reason is simple. My Dad used to work for DOB where it was common knowledge that the inspectors’ palms were being greased. The corresponding officials in the Highway Dept. were known in the construction industry as the “highwaymen”.
Definition of an honest man in these environs: “When he’s bought, he stays bought”.
Whoops. Fixed it.
Maybe you have link to wrong article here?
In mailing from CB6 I read about problems with Bricolage, etc. They ignore DOB orders and DOB is too understaffed to do anything about it.
DOB rubberstamps all the self-certifying by ‘bad’
architects and nothing is ever done unless major problem hits the news.