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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
BATTLE OF THE BLOCK
Residents seek historical designation status for E. Flatbush block
Resident’s of an East Flatbush
block hailed as “Brooklyn’s
greenest” are asking the city to
landmark their stretch of E. 25th
Street in a bid to ward off developers.
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BY JESSICA PARKS
“Our neighborhood of East
Flatbush is constantly changing,”
said Julia Charles, who lives on
the block located between Clarendon
Road and Avenue D. “There
is rapid growth and overdevelopment
all throughout the East
Flatbush community. This is our
attempt to preserve the character
and preserve the culture that is
in East Flatbush.”
Charles and her neighbors argue
that their block — which has
won Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s
Greenest Block contest four times,
most recently in 2016 — is a representation
of early 20th century
architecture, with 56 Neo-Renaissance
limestone and brownstone
row houses featuring century-old
facades and front gardens developed
by the Henry Meyer Building
Company in 1909.
And if the city doesn’t act fast
to protect the architectural treasures,
it won’t be long before developers
turn them into sky-high
condos, according to Charles, who
pointed to a developer’s scheme to
raise buildings on nearby E. 26th
Street to make way for a larger
development. “Every block surrounding
us has been affected by
overdevelopment,” said Charles,
who chairs the 300 E. 25th Street
Block Association’s landmarks
committee. “What we are seeing
is century-old Victorian homes
being ripped down and condos going
up in their place.”
By netting historic district
classifi cation for their block, residents
could throw up a major
hurdle to any developer looking
to build there by forcing projects
through the city Landmark Preservation
Commission, which has
the ability to block any construction
that would mar the area’s architectural
panache.
Charles said the block’s landmark
committee has received a
letter from the city Landmark
Preservation Committee acknowledging
that the block does
have historical merit that warrants
further study, and may
calendar the block’s petition for
consideration in the review is
successful.
If the block does obtain the
landmark designation, it would
be the fi rst block of row houses
in all of Flatbush to be protected
as a New York City Historic Designation,
according to the Historic
District Council’s director
of advocacy and community outreach.
“There are no rowhouse blocks
in Flatbush that are protected as
a New York City Historic District,
and this block is certainly a stand
out in terms of integrity, resident
support and beauty,” said Kelly
Carroll.
Residents of an E. 25th street block are seeking a historic district designation. Photo courtesy of Julia Charles
BY JESSICA PARKS
Developers are moving ahead with
a proposal to construct a massive “urban
village” in East New York, which
would bring an infl ux of discounted
housing and a slew of state-of-the-art
amenities to a coastal stretch of one of
the borough’s poorest neighborhoods.
The planned 13-building mixed-use
complex would live on an 11-acre campus
adjacent to the Christian Cultural
Center megachurch on Flatlands Avenue
— offering 2,100 residential units
offered at rates based on tenants’ income,
in addition to a daycare, a performing
arts center, a trade school,
retail storefront, and a grocery store,
according to a draft scope report fi led
on Jan. 31.
The project stems from a partnership
between developer Gotham Organization
and pastor Rev. AR Bernard
— who purchased the land surrounding
the house of worship in the 1990s
in an effort to curb gentrifi cation in
the neighborhood and provide affordable
housing options.
Bordered by Louisiana and Pennsylvania
avenues, the sprawling
scheme calls for 1,825 of the 2,100 living
units to be slated as so-called “affordable,”
with 267 units reserved for
seniors.
The project’s 13 buildings will
range in heights between two and 17
stories, according to the report.
As proposed, the plan would require
approval from the city to skirt
current zoning laws, which caps building
heights at four stories tall.
The environmental review process
will kick off on March 3 at 3:30 pm
with a public scoping meeting slated
for the Christian Cultural Center at
12020 Flatlands Ave.
A real-estate developer has partnered with the Christian Cultural
Center to propose a “innovative urban living” community in East
New York. Illustration courtesy of PAU
‘Urban village’ of affordable housing proposed for East NY