4
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
THROWING SHADE
BY BEN VERDE
Now he’s a gardener too!
Mayor Bill de Blasio undermined
the expert opinion
of professional green thumbs,
architects, and executives at
Brooklyn Botanic Garden during
an appearance on the Brian
Lehrer show on Feb. 7, when
he suggested that building a
massive residential complex
a stones throw away from the
beloved horticultural museum
would cause no serious injury
to its collection of rare and exotic
plants.
“I don’t think it ruins the
garden forever, I just don’t,”
Hizzoner said.
Garden stewards have maintained
a firm opposition to the
proposed megadevelopment at
960 Franklin Ave. — a mixeduse
complex containing 1,578
residential units, half of which
would be offered at so-called
“affordable” rates — since the
project was unveiled in 2018,
with executives fearing the destruction
of plant life as a result
of shadows cast by the development’s
39-story towers.
Their concerns are supported
by shadow studies conducted
by two architectural
firms at the behest of local antigentrification
advocates, which
demonstrated that the towers
would subject critical areas
within the garden — including
the Steinhardt Conservatory,
home to 18,500 plants — to
hours of additional gloom per
day.
But the most damning testimony
against the development
came during a hearing of the
City Planning Commission in
March, 2019, when Rowan Blaik,
director of living collections
at Brooklyn Botanic Garden,
stated that shadows cast by 960
Franklin Ave. would radically
undermine Brooklyn Botanic’s
ability to breed new plants, effectively
destroying the garden
within a matter of years.
“Should we lose propagation
growing facilities, more than
half of our collection will be
gone in a decade,” Blaik testified.
“There are simply no commercial
alternatives to on-site
propagation facilities for botanic
gardens.”
The mayor has shied away
from weighing in on a rezoning
application that developer
Continuum Company needs to
erect the massive complex until
last week, when a caller asked
the city’s lame duck leader if
he would support the construction
of roughly 800 subsidized
housing units at the expense
of Kings County’s cherished attraction.
“We’ve got to come to grips
with, if we want this to be a city
for everyone, including working
people and low-income people
we’re going to have to build
some things where people can
actually live and afford,” de
Blasio said.
Botanic Garden reps shot
back, arguing that housing
should not come at the expense
of the garden’s survival.
“Protecting BBG’s greenhouses,
nurseries, and conservatories
is crucial for preserving
BBG’s collections and
community programs,” said
Elizabeth Reina-Longoria, a
spokesperson for the greenspace.
“The very real need for
affordable housing in New York
City should not come at the expense
of one of Brooklyn’s most
vital community assets.”
The mayor voiced his support
for the project as he struggles to
fulfill a campaign promise to
build 300,000 units of affordable
housing before 2026. With only
two years left in his final term,
his administration has presided
over the creation of less than
148,000 subsidized apartments,
according to a Curbed report.
Mayor supports development poised to devastate Botanic Garden
Renderings show a proposed 39-story mixed-use complex planned for nearby the
Brooklyn Botanic garden Illustration by Continuum Company
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