8 JUNE 7, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Hearings on
newsstand
and
sidewalk
cafe top
Board
5 meet
Two public hearings based
on businesses in Ridgewood
and Rego Park will
headline the next Community
Board 5 meeting on Wednesday
night in Middle Village.
As announced by District
Manager Gary Giordano, the
session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the
CNL Center at Christ the King
Regional High School, located at
68-02 Metroppolitan Ave. (enter
through Door 10, then take elevator
to the third fl oor).
One of the public hearings
centers on an application before
the City Planning Commission
and the Department of Consumer
Aff airs (DCA) to renew a permit
allowing for the operation of
an enclosed sidewalk cafe at Pollos
a la Brasa Mario, located at
63-20 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego
Park. The renewal of revocable
consent will enable the restaurant
to continue operating its
cafe, which includes 10 tables
and 40 seats.
The second public hearing
relates to an application before
the DCA permitting the proposed
operation of a newsstand
on the northwest corner of
Wyckoff and Myrtle avenues in
Ridgewood.
Following the hearings, the
board will proceed with its
regular agenda, which includes
the public forum; a review of
liquor license applications and
demolition notices; reports from
Chairperson Vincent Arcuri
and District Manager Giordano;
and committee reports.
The meeting will also include
the nomination and election of
members to the Board 5 Executive
Committee.
For more information or to
register to speak in advance, call
Board 5 at 718-366-1834.
Protesters rally at development on Ridgewood/Bushwick border
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Two blocks away from the Ridgewood
border in Bushwick, a
controversial development that
serves as a constant reminder of the
housing crisis for local residents was
at the center of attention once again on
May 31.
A group of about 50 community
members and housing advocates gathered
in front of the 14-story luxury
condo building at 358 Grove St. to call
out its lack of aff ordable housing and
contributions to local segregation.
Organized by Churches United for
Fair Housing (CUFFH), the protest
served as an introduction to a series
the nonprofi t plans to carry out in July
to expose bad developments throughout
the neighborhood.
Stephanie Cancel, a community
organizer and youth coordinator for
CUFFH involved in the Grove St. protest,
told the Ridgewood Times that
since the surrounding neighborhood
is mostly black and Hispanic, the building
is another sign of racial inequality.
Those who live inside the building are
predominantly white, she said.
“Developers are coming into impoverished
neighborhoods and it’s
continuing to perpetuate racism in
our communities,” Cancel said. “You
rarely see any black or Latino families
in these buildings, and these are the
families that get displaced.”
The primary goals of the protest,
Cancel added, were to stop racial segregation,
advocate for more aff ordable
housing and demand that the city conduct
racial impact statements when a
new housing development is proposed.
Cancel believes that conducting such
studies would lead to many more developments
getting denied because of
their eff ects on the local population.
Completed in 2007, the Grove St.
development was met with protests at
Protesters gather in front of 358 Grove St. on May 31.
that time as well. The building contains
59 condos without any aff ordable units
by city standards, and it received a
421A tax abatement that all but eliminated
property taxes on the site. Simply
put, it is 10 stories taller than any other
structure in sight.
According to a Brownstoner report,
only 22 of the condos sold when the
building fi rst went on the market, and
then the Great Recession hit. The rest
of the units were retained by a sponsor
and rented out as apartments. As of
2017, those rentals still accounted for 65
percent of the building’s units and that
stake in the building was listed for sale.
Cancel believes the majority of the
building is currently vacant, and she
sites the income level of the surrounding
neighborhood as the reason why.
According to StreetEasy, the only condo
currently for sale is listed at $759,000,
and rentals for one-bedroom units typically
go for more than $2,000. There are
currently no vacant rentals listed.
Meanwhile, the combined median
household income in Bushwick North
and Ridgewood is $51,552, according to
the Department of City Planning. The
neighborhoods also have a combined
Hispanic population of 57 percent.
While Cancel also pointed out the
building’s tax exempt status as problematic,
city records do not show 358
Grove St. on the list of 421A exempt
properties as of fi scal year 2017-18.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Cancel
The protest attracted plenty of attention
from members of the surrounding
community, Cancel said, as well as
representatives for Public Advocate
Latitia James, Councilman Antonio
Reynoso and Congresswoman Nydia
Velazquez. In a statement sent to QNS,
Reynoso explained how this all boils
down to local residents and said the
city needs to be more focused on
helping them.
“All New York City residents deserve
access to decent affordable
housing,” Reynoso said. “Yet in communities
like Bushwick, longtime
low-income residents are fi nding it
increasingly diffi cult to obtain this.
The development of market rate and
luxury housing is driving up real
estate prices — leading to resident
displacement and degradation of
neighborhood character. ... The
city should focus its subsidies on
low-income housing, targeting our
most vulnerable residents who
stand to benefi t the most from these
programs.”
The CUFFH movement comes on the
heels of another nearby group of residents
who are fearing displacement
from their loft buildings in Bushwick.
Going forward, CUFFH will offi cially
launch its summer movement, “Take
Back Bushwick,” from July 1 to July 31
— targeting a diff erent development
each day of the month.
Honoring a beloved civic leader at Woodhaven dinner/dance
The Greater Woodhaven Development
Corporation’s annual
spring dinner/dance on June 1
was truly bittersweet this year, as the
organization dedicated the event to
its former executive director, the late
Maria Thomson. Hundreds turned out
at the Woodhaven Manor to pay homage
to Thomson, who died in January
aft er serving many years as an active
member of the Woodhaven community.
Thomson’s husband, Robert, and other
family members joined new GWDC
Executive Director Lisa Komninos,
President Stephen Esposito, State Senator
Joe Addabbo and other civic leaders
in celebrating Thomson’s life and legacy. Photo by Dean Moses
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