Ever since we reported the loss of more affordable housing at the Rheingold Brewery development site, you may be asking yourself how to prevent further rezoning disasters in and around Bushwick.
Well, some of the same developers who are responsible for the Rheingold Brewery development have set their sights on rezoning a huge patch of land in the area where Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, and Williamsburg meet—a small neighborhood widely referred to as the Broadway Triangle.
The Rabsky Group owns two blocks of the Broadway Triangle bordered by Walton Street to the north, Harrison Avenue to the east, Gerry Street to the south, and Union Avenue to the west (pictured above). They are asking the city to rezone the site so that they can build 1,147 units spread across 7 buildings, and Curbed NY reports that only 344 of those would have to be categorized as “affordable.”
Tonight, you can attend a public hearing at which Borough President Eric Adams will seek comments from anyone who has something to say about this newest potential change to the neighborhood. The Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is one of the steps in the rezoning process.
The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. on July 10—today—at Borough Hall (209 Joralemon St.). And the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition will also use the meeting to stage a public demonstration opposing the current rezoning plan.
The Broadway Triangle is one of the more diverse segments of the borough, and different members of the community have different housing needs. Some people argue that the larger apartments planned for this particular development cater too much to the Hasidic community and forsake the needs of the Hispanic and Black populations.
By that same token, supporters of the rezoning plan suggest that opponents are making an anti-Semitic argument failing to recognize that all members of the community need housing.
Jesus Gonzalez from Churches United for Fair Housing tells Bushwick Daily that “name calling is used when someone does not have a strong argument. In this process we are laying out the facts of the negative implications this plan has on our community, and are not focused on personal attacks to prove our claims.”
The argument over this particular plot of land could prove to be a turning point in the battle over rampant development, affordable housing, and access in Brooklyn, and if the Rheingold site has taught us anything is that rezoning decisions are instrumental in determining the shape of communities.
Featured image courtesy of Google Maps.