4 MAY 11 - MAY 17, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Pol rallies for third time against
proposed six-story Bay Ridge hotel
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
As promised, State Senator Marty
Golden rallied for the third
time on Friday, May 4 against
the six-story, 63-unit hotel proposed
for the long-vacant lot across the street
from P.S./I.S. 104.
“What’s coming here is a hotel that’s
going to have homeless vouchers and
that’s going to bring homeless people
to the community, which I have no
problem with,” said Golden, who
promised to rally weekly – if he has
to – to stop the hostelry from going
up. “I think we need to have housing
for our homeless but not across from
an overcrowded school in the most
overcrowded school district in the
city of New York.”
The lot in question, 9114 Fifth
Avenue, is opposite the notably
overcrowded school and, aside from
parking for the window purveyors
next door, has been vacant and on the
market at the hands of a Ridge-based
seller for nearly a decade.
The buyer – Ankit Mehta – remains
under fire for his plans, permits
for which were pre-filed with the
Department of Buildings (DOB) just
days before Golden’s first public protest
of the proposal.
The pol, for the third time, contended
that the site – zoned for commercial
use – would be better suited for a
school, as the neighborhood is within
the catchment area of one of the most
overcrowded school districts in the
city. In addition, he maintained, Bay
Ridge does not need a hotel.
Nor, Golden asserts, does it need
a homeless shelter – something, he
alleged for a third time Friday, that
the development will eventually
become when its room do not fill up,
citing properties Golden contends
Mehta is connected to citywide that
already utilize the system, as well as
controversial hotel developer Sam
Chang via an affiliation with McSam
Hotel Group (all connections the buyer
has repeatedly denied to this paper).
Mehta does attest to owning another
hotel, though, not once, he said, has he
done business with the Department of
Homeless Services, Section 8 housing
or other for-profit voucher programs.
Golden, who has since launched a
petition against the proposal, still isn’t
buying it.
“He keeps saying he has nothing to
do with the East New York Inn but,
when you look up all the LLCs he’s
connected to, McSam is one of them,”
the pol said. “There is no way a hotel
survives here without homeless
vouchers. He’s not being truthful to us.”
When all is said and done, the senator
said, he believes Mehta will flip
the property, leaving his constituents
“stuck with a hotel that not only has
homeless vouchers but also prostitution
and who knows what else.”
The almost 4,000-square foot site
isn’t zoned for a school; however,
according to the Department of City
Planning, it would not be impossible
to build a school on the site. In fact, a
special permit request was submitted
to the city’s Board of Standards and
Appeals in 2016 for a six-story expansion
to Bay Ridge Prep at 429 89th
Street – a nearby plot of land with the
same C8-2 zoning.
Furthermore, Golden said, Bay
Ridge already has two hotels – the
Prince and the Gregory – both of
which already house the homeless. All
three rallies have taken place during
school dismissal rush hour, Golden
citing other community concerns such
as congestion and lack of parking.
“The congestion in this area is not
safe for children,” Bay Ridge Community
Council President Ralph Succar,
who has opposed the project since its
inception, said at the most recent rally.
“We need classrooms. We do not need
hotel rooms. Bay Ridge cannot handle
another one.”
Still, Mehta and his representative,
Joel Schnur, stand by what they’ve told
this paper.
“No matter how many times we have
said that Mr. Mehta does not have a
business relationship with Mr. Chang
nor does he own or co-own 60 LLCs
with him, the canard is still repeated
by Golden and staff,” Schnur said after
the second rally. “Despite the fact that
Mr. Mehta has stated for the record
that he does not own the East New
York Inn and has no connection to it
nor does he intend to charge hourly
rates or apply for a voucher system
for the homeless, Golden et al keep on
repeating the charges. I guess the Big
Lie lives on in their minds.”
“They can say anything they want to
say today,” Golden for his part contested,
adding that, while Mehta has responded
to this newspaper’s requests
for comments, he has yet to have a sit
down with him and his staff. “This
is just another greedy businessman
trying to make a dollar at the behest
of a community that’s trying hard to
make sure that we do what’s right for
our children, for our families and our
community.”
Bryan G . Van Huele
Financial
Services Professional
Agent, New York Life Insurance Company
(929) 328 - 9772
bvanhuele@ft.newyorklife.com
39-02 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11354
Registered Representative for NYLIFE Securities LLC
(member FINRA / SIPCA),
a Licensed Insurance Agency
SMRU 1765602 Exp. 02/13/2020
Photo courtesy of State Senator Marty Golden's office
Protesters contest plans for a hotel across the street from an
overcrowded Bay Ridge school.