BY BEN VERDE
A developer’s plan to
erect a 14-story, 135-unit
apartment building on
Fourth Avenue in Sunset
Park got a major boost
on March 16, as the area’s
City councilmember gave
his go-ahead for the building’s
contested rezoning.
Speaking during a
Council subcommittee
meeting, Councilmember
Carlos Menchaca acknowledged
concerns
from some activists
looking for more apartments
to be earmarked
as “affordable” — but ultimately
gave his blessing,
as the structure will
contain around 33 belowmarket
rate units.
“This proposal is not
perfect,” he said of the
planned building between
24th and 25th streets. “It
will not, for instance,
build 100 percent affordable,
which I believe we
need to do here in the city
of New York, but it does
represent the clearest example
of one of the only
things that will break the
cycles of displacement
and gentrifi cation forever
— community-driven
and accountable development.”
Menchaca’s support of
the proposal is all but essential
for it to pass the
full Council vote due to
the unwritten practice
of “member deference,”
wherein city legislators
largely follow the lead of
the Council member that
represents the area where
the planned rezoning lies
on land use issues.
Of the 33 affordable
housing units in the building,
COURIER L 14 IFE, MARCH 19-25, 2021
developer Totem has
pledged to target either 12
or 13 apartments to families
and individuals making
30 percent of the Area’s
Median Income, while
the remaining units will
target 60 percent of the
AMI — coming to a total
average of 46 percent of
AMI, which is lower than
the legally mandated 60
percent under the city’s
Mandatory Inclusionary
Housing Program.
The developer, at the
request of the community,
also agreed to not
include any of the affordable
units as studios. so
to better serve families.
As a result, the affordable
units will range from a
one-bedroom apartment
at $503 monthly to a three
bedroom unit at $1,658.
“We have worked
The rezoning will allow a 14-story on a site currently occupied by a Dunkin’. Dencityworks
closely with the community
to design a project
that helps meet the needs
of long-time Sunset Park
residents and also works
to address the city’s critical
housing shortage,”
said Vivian Liao of Totem.
“This project and
the broad-reaching community
benefi ts agreement
that we have signed
alongside several community
groups is an example
of how privately-led development
can keep local
needs at the heart of their
work.”
The legally-binding
community benefi ts
agreement with the developer
also provides other
guarantees on top of the
affordable housing units,
such as a pledge not to
turn the development into
a homeless shelter, the
inclusion of a large bikestorage
facility by Oonee
Pod, and the setting-aside
of an easement to add an
elevator to the 25th Street
subway station.
Sunset Park faces a
dire housing crisis, as
documented in a recent
report by the Fifth Avenue
Committee, which
found that the neighborhood
has lost more housing
units than it has created
since 2014, while its
population has ballooned
during the same period
due to continued immigration,
and the arrival of
those priced out of neighborhoods
like Park Slope.
Menchaca, who is also
running for mayor, repeatedly
stressed that he
felt the development team
had done adequate outreach
in the lead-up to the
rezoning.
“I see this rezoning
as an example of yet another
development which
has come to terms with
community control and
accountability,” he said.
“I know others will disagree.”
Green light!
Contested Sunset Park rezoning gets
go-ahead from local Councilmember
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