‘Too Tall! Too Close! Too Much!,’ Say Opponents Of 80 Flatbush

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS – Community Board 2 held the first ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) public hearing for Alloy Development’s 80 Flatbush projectWednesday evening at St. Francis College.

Founders Auditorium was packed as supporters and opponents of the project came in droves to get their voices heard. Trying to get the long line of attendees inside and signed in proved difficult, delaying the hearing’s start time by 25 minutes. Approximately 200 people were shut out of the meeting once the venue reached capacity.

Alloy proposes to build two mixed-use towers, one 38 stories and the other 74 stories, featuring 700 market-rate apartments and 200 permanently affordable units. 80 Flatbush will also include a 15,000-square-foot cultural space, 40,000-square-foot ground floor commercial/retail space, and two new schools—a new facility for the Khalil Gibran International Academy High School as well as a new 350-seat elementary school.

A representative for NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery read a statement that opened with:

“Let me begin with saying I am unequivocally against using public resources to support the proposed development of 80 Flatbush Avenue. While I recognize the extensive capital needs of Khalil Gibran International Academy and support the involvement of the Fifth Avenue Committee on this project, the overstated public benefits do not outweigh the potential damage to our community and the millions of lost property tax values.

“The very culture, character, and spirit of our neighborhoods that attracted people to come here are dying and the developments like 80 Flatbush are killing it. Let me be clear, I am not against development. I am against socially irresponsible out-of-scale over-development. I am against tax-payers subsidizing private developers under the guise of public benefits. I am against myopic city planning that evaluates projects individually rather than within the context of community development. I am against homeowners and small business owners bearing the weight of escalating property tax values because new development projects are exempt from contributing to city and state tax coffers. I am against the lack of planning that enables massive development projects to be built without consideration for the burdens placed on New York City’s aging infrastructure.”

To read the full article, visit https://bklyner.com/too-tall-too-close-too-much-say-opponents-of-80-flatbush/

To learn more about Senator's work on 80 Flatbush Avenue, visit:

https://open.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/velmanette-montgomery/senator-montgomery-urges-community-board-2-stand-community