Prospect Park East Network
Take Action List!
Here are 6 actions to take this week. Please cc or email to ppeastnet@gmail.com what you did so we can keep track of all actions.
1. Contact the Mayor!
By phone – 311, by mail to Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Hall, New York, NY 10007 or go to http://www.nyc.gov/html/static/pages/officeofthemayor/contact.shtml but this last is limited to 300 words.
Make the following succinct points:
Mayor
de Blasio, use your bully pulpit and the power of the Mayor’s office to
protect affordable housing in Prospect Lefferts Gardens! Put a
temporary stop (a limited moratorium) to luxury development while we are
waiting to be properly zoned.
· PLG
already has dense corridors of affordable housing in this mixed-race,
mixed-income community with a median income of $41,000.
· Hudson
Properties is putting up a 23 story luxury tower in the heart of this
low-rise community (only one building complex over 6 stories) using $71+
million of state funds—so 50 apartments will be so-called affordable
(not affordable to our residents) while 200 luxury apartments will
overlook Prospect Park.
· This
will lead to secondary displacement of far more than 50 apartments—a
net loss of truly affordable housing. Landlords are already harassing
tenants in rent stabilized buildings while small landlords are raising
rents in housing without rent protections. Local merchants are being
offered shorter leases.
·
Our residents, CB9 and our Council Member have asked for contextual
zoning since 2008--always denied--making it the ONLY community bordering
Prospect Park without protective zoning, for example Park Slope.
· ALL
community groups* and hundreds of residents want the tower lowered,
with more affordable units that are family size and affordable to
members of this community.
· You
know Hudson Properties. You’ve appointed a Hudson rep to the Rent
Guidelines Board. They will listen to you when you say you want more
affordable units while at the same time protecting the existing
affordable homes in the neighborhood. You should reject this luxury
tower shadowing the new Lakeside Complex in Prospect Park with rents up
to $1,000 or more above the current neighborhood market.
· Urge him to meet with a delegation from PLG CBOs.
Mr.
Mayor, this 23 story luxury tower is low-density—3.4. We will accept
some higher density with lower height, and more affordable units for
working families, contextual with the existing affordable housing in
PLG. Email PPEastnet@gmail.com or call 347 413-9273 to arrange a meeting.
*
Groups (CBOs) in support of lowering the tower and more affordable
apartments include: Prospect Park East Network (PPEN), Prospect Lefferts
Garden Neighborhood Association (PLGNA), Flatbush Tenants’ Coalition
(FTC), Lefferts Manor Association (LMA), Chester Court Block
Association, Ocean on the Park Historic District, Community Board 9, and
2,000+ signatures on the PPEN petition and 500+ outraged neighbors that
attended the Eric Adams Town Hall Meeting (with Council Member Eugene
and State Senator Parker) April 7 and implored our elected officials to
do something!
2. Contact the City Planning Commission Chairperson Carl Weisbrod, by phone at (212) 720-3300 or by mail at Department of City Planning, 22 Reade Street, New York, NY 10007-1216.
And make the following succinct points:
· The
Prospect Park East Network sent you a letter and email on April 23,
2014 asking for an emergency text change in the zoning regulations for
only two blocks bordering Prospect Park that are now zoned “as of
right.” You never answered or even acknowledged the letter.
· The
text change would institute the “Quality Housing Program” rules for
these two blocks while the whole district gets studied and rezoned (a 2
year process), which would limit height to 80 feet while promoting more
affordable housing.
· Your
Brooklyn office refused to consider this request as well as ongoing
requests for contextual zoning from CB9 and our council member since
2008, while every other community surrounding Prospect Park is
protected.
· Is
it because this is the ONLY community surrounding Prospect Park that is
significantly diverse (50% Black and 50% everyone else) and poor
compared to the other communities (median area income approximately
$41,000 for a family of 4)?
· We
need you to ACT NOW to protect the existing extensive affordable units
in this neighborhood (the Flatbush/Ocean corridors are the densest in
Brooklyn) or we will end up with a row of luxury towers shadowing the
gem of Brooklyn, Prospect Park, while lower income tenants and seniors
will be forced to vacate this neighborhood, as has happened in Harlem.
· Urge Commissioner Weisbrod to meet with representatives of the community-based organizations and CB 9. Contact PPEastnet@gmail.com or call 347 413-9273 to arrange a meeting.
3. JOIN OUR DEMONSTRATION on the steps of City Hall on Friday, June 6, 1 - 2 PM. (Be sure to have photo ID)
· Invite 5 friends and neighbors to come with you!
· Make signs and bring them!
· Contact any press you know!
4. JOIN our weekly leafleting, petitioning and tabling on Saturdays from 1 – 3 PM at 626 Flatbush Avenue corner of Fenimore.
5. Contact Public Advocate Letitia James by phone at 212 669-7200 or mail at 1 Centre Street, #1500, New York, NY 10007. Or email outreach@pubadvocate.nyc.gov
· Make the points listed above and urge her to contact the Mayor on behalf of PLG.
· Ask
for a meeting with her and representatives of PLG to strategize next
steps, as we believe she will support this community in its efforts to
protect the existing affordable housing base. Email PPEastnet@gmail.com or call 347 413-9273 to arrange a meeting.
6. Contact Comptroller Scott Stringer by phone at (212) 669-3916 or by mail at Office of the Comptroller City of New York, One Centre Street, New York, NY 10007
· Make the points listed above and urge him to contact the Mayor on behalf of PLG.
· Ask
for a meeting with him and representatives of PLG to strategize on ways
the City Comptroller Office can help prevent another community tragedy,
where, like Harlem, luxury development leads to secondary displacement
on long standing, low income neighbors. He has a stated commitment to
Affordable Housing and he needs to know that a luxury tower, with 50
so-called affordable units will end up displacing hundreds of existing
affordable apartments. Contact PPEastnet@gmail.com or call 347 413-9273 to arrange a meeting.
Posted May 26, 2014
