Lisle Bruney
East 98th Street at Livonia Avenue in Brooklyn. Like its neighbor East New York, Brownsville combines good transit access, publicly owned development sites, a history of neglect and deep-rooted community organizations.
The de Blasio administration is moving to develop vacant spaces in the Brooklyn neighborhood for a mix of affordable housing and other services—building on earlier plans, engaging the community and encountering a mix of reactions.
It’s unclear how closely the city’s rezoning proposal will follow the most detailed community-based plan to emerge during the two-plus years of the de Blasio administration’s housing push.
Community groups pressed for deeper housing affordability and protections for workers. Other voices stressed different priorities.
The MTA is relocating its bus depot at East 126th Street so the city can create a memorial honoring the history of an African burial ground formerly located at the site. But the full plan calls for much more than a memorial.
The city could use its seizure powers to facilitate the redevelopment of Far Rockaway. But a law firm’s promotional material has alarmed many property owners who are not even potential targets, the city says.
The limited scope, curious criteria and advisory nature of those studies has some community advocates worried the city will miss the problems Mayor de Blasio’s zoning changes could cause.
Some residents want commercial development, but are concerned about the impact of new housing. Others support residential development, but don’t agree on whether it should serve the poor or middle class.
At a conference on displacement, the city and advocates split over whether public and private development is a cause of residential displacement, or a potential antidote to it.
It’s early in the process, and a lot of voices still must be heard, but so far the proposal to rezone the Queens community appears to have received a more positive reaction than any previous de Blasio planning initiative.
While other hurdles to community land trusts remain, the bid by Queens Councilmember Donovan Richards would nudge open the door to an approach used in several other states.
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