Sunset Park Rezone Plans Meet the Community
Last night an overflow crowd attended a Community Board 7 meeting to hear a presentation from the Department of City Planning about its draft proposal for rezoning Sunset Park. The area in question runs from 29th Street to 64th Street and 4th Avenue to the edge of 8th Avenue, and Planning’s draft proposal involves downzoning…
Last night an overflow crowd attended a Community Board 7 meeting to hear a presentation from the Department of City Planning about its draft proposal for rezoning Sunset Park. The area in question runs from 29th Street to 64th Street and 4th Avenue to the edge of 8th Avenue, and Planning’s draft proposal involves downzoning 75 percent of that to preserve the neighborhood’s low-rise character so it’s mostly R6B, which allows a max height of 40 feet or 50 feet after a setback. Some sections of the avenues covered in the draft rezoning plan will be upzoned to allow for areas of between six and eight stories with an inclusionary bonus for the construction of permanent affordable housing. According to Aaron Brashear of the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights, the presentation was generally well-received, though not without comment and criticism. Many people still had questions about how the plan would affect the creation/preservation of affordable housing. The next phase of the rezoning will involve generating an Environmental Impact Statement and then starting ULURP, and the actual rezoning may go through by the end of this year.
Sunset Park One Step Closer to Rezoning [Brownstoner]
5:11pm, generally the plan by City Planning is to leave manufacturing districts as-is. So any residential mixed in with a M zone would be grandfathered in under the existing zoning.
3:50pm, excellent observation with the “Polemicist may actually be a reborn Eryximachus” thought. I agree. Perhaps Iceberg was morphed into one of these two as well.
I have missed Ice-Ice Baby’s rants.
anyone know how 39th st will be impacted by this? It is currently zoned for manufacturing but has residential mixed in. I thought I heard talk of rezoning it to residential.
I reread the original brownstoner post from almost a year ago [click on the link above] and, lo and behold!
…Therein lies a retort from when Polemicist, when, if my instincts are right, was when he was known as “Eryximachus.” They certainly might enjoy meeting one another if they haven’t done so already.
“Eryximachus” said…
“For all of those poor people out there, always remember zoning is the #1 cause of the lack of affordable housing.
http://post.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2002papers/HIER1948.pdf
These people are fringe lunatics. This entire hoopla was over the construction of a 12-story building. Such buildings were built ALL OVER NYC before anyone even thought of restricting property rights. It the construction of the Equitable Building to make anyone THINK of taking away peoples property rights.
And then of course, these same people screaming that a 6-story or 12-story building is too high are the same ones who hate the Atlantic Yards development because they are using emininent domain against a handful of obsolete 100-year old tenaments.
Sunset Park is a dump. It’s always been a dump. That’s why there are no tall buildings there. In the early 20th century people wanted to move to Bay Ridge and Park Slope – thus the tall buildings in those neighborhoods.
There is nothing worth preserving in Sunset Park. The neighborhood has great subway access and should be developed to the maximum density desired by the PEOPLE, not some fringe lunatics who don’t have to work and can harass politicans at community board meetings.
If people buy or rent the apartments, democracy has spoken. The tyranny of these lunatics must end – otherwise the rest of us will continue to live in misery until these elderly fools finally die.”
Posted by: Eryximachus at March 29, 2007 10:54 AM
Get a grip, dude. Like developers will want to build 12 story buildings on 4th avenue in this s*it economy right now? Glad you’re not making any decisions here!
That’s the longest most narrow room ever, then if it holds 100.
2:37pm, if it was held at CB7’s main room, it would have been full at approx 100 people. From the post, it sounds like there were more.
CB7 tends to have a packed house for most of it’s meetings and hearings that I have attended, including their monthly Board meetings. You ought to get out more often.
Also, CB7, from the last public hearing I went to, sets seats aside for Board members, so that’s why you see folks in the front row, including the guy Mr. B is quoting, who’s a CB7 member.
No comment on your other rhetoric.
There are 5 people shown in this photo sitting down attending the meeting (I’m not counting the speaker) in what is obviously a small room that doubtfully holds much more than 12 people and yes actually I can tell from the backs of their heads those 5 people all at the front of the room are caucasian. At least 50% of the meeting attendees were white plus we would rightly assume the most enthused if not the organizers of the event were sitting up front. So it seems the claim this is mainly a latino/Chinese effort is not true. Most building OWNERS from those two ethnic communities make a lot if not most their income from renting apartments in their buildings. They are landlords. It makes no sense they would oppose factors that increase rents they can ask or that allow them to build additions to the buildings they own. I just don’t buy it.
I remember right before the Slope Down-zoning there was fear that developers along 4th avenue would spend their affordable housing credits through out SSPark. Did this ever happen? Did anyone even take the carrot? This DZ has nothing to do with A.H.
This is for ‘polemisist”:
You have learned a lot about our neighborhood since you came here in 2003. I was born here in 1945 and may know a few things you don’t.
Sunset Park was never a ‘dump.’ The brownstone were I grew up was built in 1905, not the 1920’s. The housing stock in Sunset Park is mostly excellent, not as old as Park Slope, but older and better crafted than Bay Ridge.
In fact, the name ‘Sunset Park’ is a misnomer. ‘Bay Ridge’ originally ran from 36th Street to 86th Street. The tidal moraine that gives Bay Ridge its name begins at 36th Street. The term ‘Sunset Park’ is a 1970’s political construct. The area north of 36th Street was always ‘Bush Terminal’ and ‘South Brooklyn.’
There are many people who care about ‘Sunset Park,’ both its past and its future. In the past it was mostly Irish, Italian and Scandinavian. They have been joined (not replaced) by Latinos and Chinese and others. Their interests are more lasting than the very special interests of real estate speculators — like yourself — who trash other people’s neighborhoods for their own quick profit.
Sunset Park was never a ‘dump.’ Polemicist — what a putz!
All these down zonings are in response to a few 12 story mid block buildings that went up in the SSlope. Too bad everyone (small property owner) lose, FAR in this example, while a very select few property owners along 4th avenue gain everything. Fear of having some monstrosity right next door vs. giving up my right to build a small addition on the back/roof of my little house. Why should i have to give away my property to save it?