HRA Bows to Pressure at 470 Vanderbilt
It seems that the blow-back at a recent Community Board 2 meeting was enough to make the city’s Human Resource Administration rethink its effort to lease 400,000 square feet of space at 470 Vanderbilt Avenue, the large commercial building currently in turnaround on the border of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. Here’s a statement we…
It seems that the blow-back at a recent Community Board 2 meeting was enough to make the city’s Human Resource Administration rethink its effort to lease 400,000 square feet of space at 470 Vanderbilt Avenue, the large commercial building currently in turnaround on the border of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. Here’s a statement we received from an HRA spokesperson over the weekend: “HRA went before Brooklyn’s Community Board 2 to discuss the potential impact of consolidating some of its offices into one location at 470 Vanderbilt. The plan was designed to provide convenience to clients and cost savings for the City. After listening to the concerns from the community, HRA chose to withdraw its application, and will continue to be as flexible as possible in our work with communities across the City.” Pointing out that NYCHA has been operating out of 470 since January without incident or complaint, Andrew Zobler, chief executive of the landlord, GFI, told us that his company plans to try to engage in an outreach process with the community to convince it of the benefits of the HRA lease and remains hopeful that the agency would come back to the table under those circumstances.
HRA Plans Catch Flack at CB2 [Brownstoner]
This is kind of ridiculous. The building is there, it has a certificate of occupancy, it’s zoned for offices. Someone’s going to move in and use it as an office. What difference does it make whether it’s a city agency (in which case it goes before CB2) or someone else (in which case it doesn’t)?
I live down the block and actually have a lot to say about that particular parcel. It is as much of a psychological divide as AY itself. The combination of 470, its parking lot, the Brooklyn Tech running/sports field and the inward-facing residential lots along Fulton from Carlton to Vanderbuilt all make it an unfriendly and uninviting stretch of real estate for pedestrians. It cuts that corner of Fort Greene off from CH and PH. My view is that it was poorly designed from the beginning and that is what is really hurting the CH merchants. They have a methadone clinic on one side and a deserted industrial park on the other. Who wants to walk there? Frankly, I would have supported HRA to bring some more street traffic to the neighborhood. While it would certainly have an impact on parking, it’s hard to imagine people wanting to drive and deal with looking for a spot for half an hour on a regular basis. And isn’t the neighborhood now experimenting with residential parking?
I am with you there, Grand Army. It is physically impossible to cross that intersection before the light changes. That’s actually the other change I am hoping that more traffic to 470 might make them change.
As someone who lives in PH, no one would be more thrilled than me if some of the AY parking could be opened to locals. I guess we’ll see.
I agree it would be good for Fulton St businesses. But they’ll have to fix the traffic lights on Atlantic Ave to make sure HRA employees don’t get creamed crossing over to the Mickey D’s. That’s a terrible intersection for pedestrians.
Uh, DeLepp, I don’t think the Park Slope stroller contingent is any different, much as you’d like to make this a class thing?
So this essentially comes down to not enough parking? I keep forgetting that NY employees and users of social services have a god given right to drive their autos everywhere.
There’s a lot of AY parking in those plans. I’m sure some of it could be set aside?
Thanks for screwing the Fulton St small restaurant and business owners CB2. Gentrifying NIMBY’s strike again.
The AY parking — which doesn’t yet exist, I should point out — is for construction workers, construction vehicles and staging. When the arena eventually opens, it will be used by those attending games but, as yet, FCR has not indicated it will ever be available for local residents or workers.