12
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
BY BEN VERDE
Residents are furious
over a baptist church’s
scheme to build a 13-story
building in Windsor Terrace,
saying the proposal
would forever alter the fabric
of the neighborhood.
“You guys have got to be
on crack if you think that’s
what this neighborhood
looks like,” said Mark Duffi
n at a rezoning hearing on
Thursday.
The International Baptist
Church is partnering
with JEMB Realty to rezone
and redevelop the lot
at 312 Coney Island Avenue
— where a bulky four-story
brick building currently
houses a house of worship,
a school, and a large parking
lot.
Under the current zoning
laws, the church could
turn the property into a
17-story hotel, with space
for a medical offi ce, community
facility, and church
elsewhere in the building —
but the organization feels
that a residential apartment
building would be
better suited for the sleepy
residential neighborhood,
according to the developer’s
lawyer.
In addition to a new
church, the proposed residential
project would contain
278 units, with 70 permanently
designated as
so-called “affordable” — offered
between $856 a month
for a studio and $1,504 for a
three-bedroom.
The apartment tower
would also be home to an
80 car parking garage that
would provide spaces for
churchgoers, 140 bike parking
spaces, and ground-fl oor
retail storefronts.
At 13 stories, the building
would top out at 145 feet
with a 15- to 20-foot bulkhead,
reps for the developers
said — but that stands
in stark contrast to the rest
of the neighborhood, where
most buildings top out at six
or seven stories.
At the rezoning meeting,
locals worried that the infl
ux of housing units would
lead to an increase of traffi c
during rush hour, piled garbage
on the street during
collection days, and accelerated
gentrifi cation.
“I’m a single mom, I’m a
teacher. I can barely afford
to live in Brooklyn anymore.
I’ve been chased from
neighborhood to neighborhood,”
said Dannette
Plagge, who lives across the
The proposed development. Renderings by FXcollaborative
street from the proposed
site. “I look at this proposal
and I think what — do I
have to go back to the midwest
where I came?”
Others countered, arguing
that the solution to skyrocketing
prices in the area
— where the formerly majority
working-class population
has left, and an infl ux
of young professionals has
settled in — is to increase
building.
“People will move to
apartments that are affordable
— and if they are not
moving into new apartments
they are moving into
apartments that already
exist,” said Charles Mangiardi,
a Caton Place resident,
who echoed a sentiment
backed up by urban
studies. “That’s what drives
up the cost of rent.”
If the city doesn’t promote
construction of new
housing, then the old-guard
of the neighborhood will be
pushed out, said Mangiardi.
“The buildings might
look the same, but the people
in them are not going
to look the same if we don’t
build more,” he said.
Baptized by ire!
Proposed church rezoning for 13-story
tower sparks heated debate in W’Terrace