Locals opposed to Mayor DeBlasio’s sweeping plans to loosen height restrictions for new construction have enlisted a powerful new ally in the fight.
Members of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association went over the 6-foot-5 mayor’s head to take their grievances to their congresswoman, who said she shared their concerns.
“I think these are very important issues,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D–Flatbush), who dropped by the group’s June 18 meeting to swear in its new board. “They go to the quality of life for the people that reside in the Marine Park-Homecrest area and it’s important that people organize to maintain that quality of life.”
The proposed new rules would permit developers to build higher than currently allowed in “contextual zoning districts” — which protect low-rise neighborhoods from rampant development that is out of character with the existing housing stock — as long as they include below-market-rate units or senior housing, and locals are worried that the change would increase population density and allow residential towers that would literally overshadow the lower-scale buildings that characterize their area.
“These buildings are going to be blocking out the sun,” said board member Tom Whitford. “We are not just against this. We want people to pay attention to it.”
The Department of City Planning rolled out the proposal quietly back in March, but the fierce backlash from community boards and civic groups in neighborhoods such as Marine Park, Sheepshead Bay and Bay Ridge forced the department to launch a charm offensive to sell the plan to skeptics — an effort that has met with limited success.
“Civic groups all around the city are not happy about this,” said association president Ed Jaworski.
Jaworski said the city brought the local backlash on itself by leaving civic groups out of the loop before the plan was unveiled.
“There was no attempt at City Planning to make this public to civic groups,” he said, noting that he only found out about the proposal from a civic group in Manhattan just two days before a briefing at the Department of City Planning offices.
The Department of City Planning defends the proposal as a way to create senior-friendly housing options in aging communities and allow residents to remain in their neighborhoods as they get older. The department also said that even with the relaxed height restrictions, buildings in Marine Park would rarely exceed three or four stories.
For her part, Rep. Clarke promised the association that she would take up the members’ concerns with City Hall.
“I’m going to use what I’ve heard here today to raise some questions myself,” she said, “to get a better sense of what the intent is with some of the proposals.”
Jaworski said he and his group appreciate her support.
“It shows us she recognizes our end of the district,” he said. “For her to come and spend as much time as she did, and engage members, was very nice and considerate.”
