Small Protest Over Glassy PLG Tower
Hawthorne Street has an item on a protest held this weekend over a developer’s plan to build a 20-story tower in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The blog takes a dim view of the proceedings, saying that while protesters claim they’re against the tower because it might increase rents in the neighborhood, their main concern with the…
Hawthorne Street has an item on a protest held this weekend over a developer’s plan to build a 20-story tower in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The blog takes a dim view of the proceedings, saying that while protesters claim they’re against the tower because it might increase rents in the neighborhood, their main concern with the development is actually its height: “The real objective behind the formation of CRGPLG seems to be stopping a tall building from going up near Lefferts Manor. If that means shifting blame for the basic economics of supply and demand, exaggerated warnings about the coming avian holocaust, or stoking fears about gentrification, so be it. It may all be moot anyway. As the protest was going on, a backhoe was busily moving about the site.” Anyone on the ground in PLG who can tell us more about what neighbors are thinking about the tower?
Saturday’s Tower Protest Weak and Misguided [Hawthorne Street]
Glassy Tower Planned for PLG [Brownstoner]
As a longtime resident of PLG, I think this new building will be a terrific addition to the neighborhood. We need something completely different from the ugly new buildings going up around us. No one is being displaced, no eminent domain use here, no eyesores are being built where once stood small nice-looking homes, and nothing of architectural interest is being torn down for it.
Oh puh-lease! The bloggers are snotty idiots that want this building to go up at any cost so they can have a better chance at swapping their home out for someplace else.
BTW, I also wonder, along with 10:09, what happened to Sarah Ryley?
As far as I can tell, from speaking with neighbors and reading posts on our local Lefferts Yahoo group, opinion in the neighborhood is quite split about this project. The Concerned Citizens/PLGNA meeting at Grace Church several weeks ago was very heavily attended, but there are also many people who favor the project.
FWIW, the Lefferts Manor Association board has NOT taken a position on this project. I suspect our board would be as split as the community.
In case anyone is interested in what I think personally, although I usually have no problem choosing sides, i am of two minds about this particular project which seems to me to be overly tall, but is, at least, not directly displacing anyone. I am, personally, interested in re-visiting the zoning in many parts of our neighborhood (for example, Ocean Avenue, facing Prospect Park) and think it is a good thing that the “tower” controversy is making many PLG residents think about zoning. I do NOT wish to make myself seem more knowledgeable than I really am. When demolition stalled recently I confidently predicted that the tower was dead. Demolition is now virtually complete, so my crystal ball is obviously not that good.
It’s true that this building is “out of character” with other buildings in the neighborhood. The rest of this block is old and dingy buildings so a shiny new building will definitely stand out.
i am generally a bitter renter (not stabber though) who is waiting for doom and gloom to descend on “prime” brownstone brooklyn before i would ever consider buying. but if this is priced significantly below the slope, i am all over it.
I live two blocks from here and use this subway station. I think new development in this area is great, but between the glass and the height, this building’s just out of character with the neighborhood.
I agree with 1216. Perhaps along with
providing the shopping and service amenities
that the neighborhood so desperately needs; it
will encourage some of the rental buildings
to upgrade and provide better services to tenants along with the inevitable rent increases. And maybe those in the neighborhood who treat the sidewalks as a garbage dump will begin to take some pride in where they live. If this is gentrification, I’m all for it!
there are 2 things wrong with this building:
1) that it’s still not built
2) that it’s not taller.
do it.