LETTERS:

To the editor:

The Executive Board the and Land Use committee of Community Board 2 recognized
from the outset that only a “yes” vote on overall up-zoning,
the first item in the proposed Brooklyn Downtown Plan, would permit a
modification, or “no” vote, on any other item in the plan, so
it structured its recommendation as a package to approve the up-zoning
first then selectively approve, modify or disapprove with recommendations
the attendant proposals.

At the Land Use committee meeting of Jan. 21, the proposal was discussed
item by item with the chairperson of the Traffic and Transportation committee,
which had voted “no” on the entire proposal, along with representatives
of the Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill associations. All of their requests
were incorporated in the Land Use committee’s recommendations for
the ’yes” vote on the Brooklyn Downtown Plan.

It should be noted that [board member] Ken Diamondstone had been advocating
for a “no” vote on the entire plan for some time. His request
for an item-by-item vote at the board meeting followed his plea to the
board to vote “no” on the overall up-zoning. He knew that a
“no” vote on the up-zoning would effectively foreclose the possibility
of voting “yes” on any other aspect of the proposed Brooklyn
Downtown Plan.

After Diamondstone and his clique orchestrated the ‘no’ vote
on the entire plan, including the proposed library adjacent to BAM, a
coalition of the same community groups that supported him is planning
to ask the city for the same modifications that were included in the positive
Action Report of the Land Use committee.

If any person is to be blamed for the failure of CB2, it is Ken Diamondstone
and his clique of neighborhood groups that surround the downtown area.

— Lawrence Whiteside, CB2 Land Use committee member