IMPACCT Brooklyn, along with BrooklynSpeaks, is taking a stand for affordable housing in Clinton Hill.
On a hot August morning, representatives of IMPACCT Brooklyn joined members of the coalition BrooklynSpeaks, including fellow housing advocates, civic leaders, elected officials, and residents, atop the Carlton Avenue Bridge to call on Governor Cuomo to halt further development at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park until the public is no longer kept in the dark about updates to the project. (IMPACCT Brooklyn is also a member of BrooklynSpeaks.)
The Atlantic Yards project started in 2006, before rebranding as “Pacific Park” in 2014. The same year, the State of New York and then-Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner settled on 2,250 affordable apartments in the project, to be completed by May 2025. In the past thirteen years, only 650 units have been completed, but this past July, Empire State Development requested increased space to add a fitness center and “field house” beneath apartment towers planned on the block of Dean Street, between Vanderbilt Avenue and Carlton Avenue. Although the long-term effects of this plan are unknown, a planned advisory vote among the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation board of directors is being rushed through this week, with a final vote scheduled for Wednesday.
Now, the community is speaking out against this major change developers are trying to sneak into the existing plans. Many people are pointing out that it’s not physically possible to build the remaining 1,600 units of affordable housing in the existing time frame, and IMPACCT Brooklyn’s Executive Director Bernell Grier posed the question: to whom are these apartments ‘affordable?’
“The ‘affordable’ apartments at Atlantic Yards include some of the most expensive that have been built in Brooklyn,” Bernell said at Monday’s press conference. “We all know there is a heightened need for affordable apartments that are properly income targeted to meet the needs of low-income Brooklynites. We need for the affordable housing to be built and promises to be kept in a way that meets the needs of the community. Instead of meeting the needs of low income Brooklynites, it is evident the State is catering to services that are more upmarket and foster economic inequality.”
The BrooklynSpeaks group of stakeholders, advocates and elected representatives gathered on the Carlton Avenue Bridge called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to withhold approval for the additional space for the proposed additions until:
- a review of the environmental impact of the change has been performed and the public given an opportunity to comment;
- the proposed change is amended to include offsetting public benefits as proposed by elected officials; and
- the Atlantic Yards developers have presented the public with a plan showing how they intend to meet their obligation to complete 2,250 units of affordable housing by 2025.
Looking for affordable housing? The Athena Apartments are 114 newly constructed affordable housing units in Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights, serving Area Median Incomes (AMIs) of 60%, 80%, and 125%. IMPACCT Brooklyn is now accepting applications now through October 16th, 2019. Click here to learn more about the Athena Apartments and to apply.
