8 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 December 13–19, 2019
Clash over Industry City
Supporters and activists face off at rezoning hearing
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THE FAVORITE GIFT
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
Advocates opposed to a
planned $1 billion expansion
of Industry City went
head-to-head with supporters
of the manufacturing complex
during a Dec. 9 meeting
inside Grand Prospect
Hall, where unionized carpenters
gathered in force to
promote the controversial rezoning
scheme.
“Any union who stands on
the side with corporate developers
is not on the side of
the workers!” said protester
Corbin Laedlein, following
the testimonies of union members,
who voiced their support
for the Sunset Park complex’s
rezoning plan.
The public hearing came
nearly two months after Industry
City President and
CEO Andrew Kimball submitted
the rezoning proposal
to the city, which jumpstarted
the city’s seven-month land
use review procedure. If approved,
the rezoning would
pave the way for a 12-year,
$1-billion redevelopment of
the 35-acre campus, which
would add retail space, while
permitting the construction
of academic spaces and two
hotels at the Third Avenue
industrial complex, among
other changes.
Critics have long argued
that the plan would lure large
corporations and gentrify the
neighborhood — kicking out
small businesses and low-income
residents — while Industry
City proponents claim
that the plan would bring
needed jobs. At the last major
public hearing about the
rezoning in Sept., protesters
shouted down Councilman
Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset
Park) when he announced his
conditional support of the rezoning,
and several activist
groups have since held rallies
opposing the proposal.
But Menchaca, who holds
outsize power over the Industry
City application, which
affects the district he represents
— now claims that he’s
prepared to vote down the rezoning,
since Kimball sub-
mitted the application before
several of Menchaca’s conditions
were met. Kimball
has vowed to bend to some
of Menchaca’s demands, such
as removing hotels and reducing
retail space — although
Kimball conceded on Monday
that the rezoning application
includes both uses. Meanwhile,
Menchaca’s two other
requests mandating a legallybound
community benefits
document and a written funding
promise from the Mayor’s
Office don’t exist yet.
During Monday’s community
board hearing, hundreds
of protesters and supporters
gathered in Park Slope’s
Grand Prospect Hall, where
Industry City reps began by
presenting on the application.
Before long, activists silently
crowded the front of the auditorium,
holding signs that
criticized Industry City’s business
practices, while dozens of
union workers waved signs in
favor of the development.
After the presentation,
attendees took turns voicing
their support or opposition
to the rezoning, arguing
that the redevelopment lacks
green manufacturing, and that
the increase in retail and office
space will displace Sunset
Park’s low-income, immigrant
community.
“They want our homes
and we’re not going to let
them have it!” said Marcela
Mitaynes, an organizer for
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
who’s running for the State
Assembly in District 57.
But Industry City supporters
— mostly members of the
Carpenter’s Union and Industry
City tenants — charged
that the complex’s owners offer
well-paying union jobs,
and have demonstrated a history
of working in collaboration
with residents.
“They’ve made it possible
for me to survive,” said Bob
Mason, who owned a woodworking
business in Industry
City for 30 years. “The fact
that Industry City is willing
to set aside hundreds of thousands
of square feet for manufacturing
is very inspiring.”
Throughout the hearing, attendees
on either side hurled
insults at each other, calling
each other “gentrifiers” and
claiming closer ties to Sunset
Park. One sign, held up by
the executive director of the
activist organization Uprose,
read, “How much did they pay
you to sell out?”
At one point, Industry
City supporters argued that
the complex’s owners have
helped eliminate prostitution
and attract visitors to Sunset
Park, which caused an uproar
among critics.
“I’m completely flabbergasted
that the people representing
Industry City that
have come here are so racist,”
said Reverend Samuel Cruz,
the pastor at Trinity Lutheran
Church. “I’d rather be around
sex workers who are accepting
than gentrifiers who aren’t
very accepting.”
Activists at the Dec. 9 meeting held up signs criticizing
Industry City while unionized carpenters waved
signs in support.
Photo by Craig Hubert
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