February 10, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 6
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The city wants to turn this parking lot on Fifth Avenue and 16th Street into a 50-unit building for formerly homeless men. Locals want affordable housing for families.
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del.icio.usA fight is brewing in Park Slope pitting city housing officials who want to build low-income studio apartments for formerly homeless people against residents who believe bigger, family-friendly units would better serve the community.
The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development wants to build 48 to 50 studio apartments at 575 Fifth Ave. — currently a municipal parking lot at 16th Street.
Neighbors have other designs on the site.
“I don’t see how the current plan could be positive for the community,” said John Burns, a member of the newly formed South Park Slope Community Group.
Sixty percent of the housing would go to formerly homeless single adults, while the rest of the units would go to adults earning less than $29,000 a year.
“There is a huge need for affordable housing in Park Slope,” said HPD spokesman Neill Coleman, “and that’s what we’re trying to provide.”
But Burns and others are worried about the possibility of mentally disabled individuals moving in, though Coleman said those residents would be well cared for.
“It’s supportive housing,” he said, adding that the residents would have counseling and other help.
“We’re not just going to dump them there and let them fend for themselves,” he said.
Burns’s group has not developed its own proposal, but says it wants family-sized units. But Burns said he and his fellow residents would listen to HPD’s proposal at a series of community meetings in the coming weeks before making up their mind.
“I just hope it’s a civilized debate,” he said.
The South Park Slope Community Group & Concerned Citizens of Green Wood Heights will meet to discuss the proposal on Feb. 13 at 7 pm at Grand Prospect Hall (263 Prospect Ave. at Fifth Avenue). Call (718) 854-0003 for information. Community Board 7 will also have a public hearing on Feb. 15 at 6:30 pm at St. John–St. Matthew Emmanuel Lutheran Church (283 Prospect Ave. between Fifth and Sixth avenues). Call (718) 854-0003 for information.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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