May 3–9, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 13
SpecialGift Ideas
Mother’s Day
LOOK FOR OUR CIRCULAR
IN TODAY’S PAPER!
VVIISSIITT PPCCRRIICCHHAARRDD..CCOOMM FFOORR AA SSTTOORREE NNEEAARREESSTT YYOOUU
STAY INFORMED!
Get daily updates on news in your
neighborhood by signing up for our
daily e-mail updates at
BrooklynPaper.com/updates
FULL BLOOM
Garden celebrates its cherry blossoms
By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Paper
Brooklyn celebrated all
things Japanese at Brooklyn
Botanic Garden’s annual
cherry blossom festival last
weekend.
The world-class horticultural
museum’s smorgasbord
of cultural events celebrated
the brief, but extraordinarily
vibrant bloom that graces its
26 species of cherry trees,
which lasts only a few weeks
in March through April every
year.
Performances included a
high-octane fusion of traditional
Trading up in Gowanus
Developer offers accessible station to build even bigger
Avery Hall Investments
Manhattan-based development company Avery Hall Investment offered to
build a more accessible entrance to the Bay Ridge-bound platform of the R
train’s Union Street station in exchange for almost a football field’s worth of
additional floor space, at an April 25 meeting.
ing’s goals in modernizing
this outmoded subway station,
and most importantly
making it accessible to frail
elderly, parents with young
children and strollers, and
Brooklynites with disabilities,
especially during evening
rush hours when the current
narrow sidewalk stair is overcrowded
and difficult to navigate,”
said the company’s chief
Brian Ezra at the school’s auditorium
at Fourth Street.
The developer, which has
properties in Carroll Gardens,
Cobble Hill, and Downtown,
plans to build the new
entrance at the base of a residential
building they propose
to construct at the northern
corner of Union Street and
Fourth Avenue — at the site
of a gas station.
Under the rezoning, they
could erect a 17-story tower
with an area that spans nearly
three football fields.
They would be able to add
the extra space they’re asking
taiko drumming and
martial arts courtesy of Taiko
Masala, an elegant Kabuki
Bayo dance performance,
samurai sword exhibitions,
anime- and video game-inspired
jazz, and various other
musical acts with an eastern
twist.
The garden’s beloved
cherry blossom festival
wouldn’t be complete without
a zany cast of cos-playing
ticket holders, who donned
historic Japanese garb, along
with less traditional costumes,
including Jon Rios’s fantastic
Deadpool, and Emma Salder’s
magical unicorn.
for within the existing building
envelope, which is the maximum
three-dimensional space
on a lot within which they can
build the structure, including
its height, setback, and yard
controls, and without going
over 17 stories, spokesman
Ethan Geto said.
The city gave a similar
incentive to developers during
a Manhattan rezoning in
2016, according to a Gothamist
report .
Planners invited the public
to give its input into the rezoning’s
Environmental Impact
Statement, which will assess
the potential effects of allowing
for taller buildings in Gowanus,
among other changes,
and is part of the Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure
bureaucrats must pass before
buildings can soar higher.
Residents and local pols
demanded that the city study
the impact that bringing more
people to the neighborhood
will have on the current combined
sewer overflow issues
and that it not compromise
the Environmental Protection
Agency’s cleanup of Brooklyn’s
Nautical Purgatory under
the federal Superfund
program.
One state pol criticized
the city’s draft impact statement
and warned that the
EPA’s cleanup only accounts
for current residents, which
could cause issues for thousands
of newcomers.
Great rates like ours are always in season.
7-Month
CD or IRA CD 2.45%
APY2
$5,000 minimum deposit
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
A developer offered to
fund the construction of a
more accessible subway station
entrance to the R train
in Gowanus in return for a
larger building at a Department
of City Planning meeting
last week.
Manhattan-based Avery
Hall Investments will foot the
bill to design and build a new
entrance to the Bay Ridgebound
platform of the Union
Street station with a new elevator
and wider stairway at
a cost of $11 million in exchange
for a city zoning code
transit improvement incentive
that would allow it to add almost
a football field’s worth
of floorspace to a building it
proposes to erect on top of
the new stop, reps said at the
public scoping meeting held
April 25 at MS 51 on Fifth
Avenue.
The new entrance would
be easier for Gowanusaurs to
access than the current stairway,
which is often clogged
during peak hours, according
to a spokesman.
“We believe that our proposal
aligns with the rezon-
Maximum
2.00%
Money Market APY1
$100,000 minimum deposit
To qualify you must have or open any Flushing Bank Complete Checking account3 which
provides you with access to over 55,000 ATMs, ATM fee rebates, mobile banking and mobile
check deposit.
For more information and to find out about our other great offers, visit your local Flushing Bank branch,
call 800.581.2889 (855.540.2274 TTY/TDD) or visit www.FlushingBank.com.
Small enough to know you.
Large enough to help you.®
1 New Maximum Money Market account and new money only. APY effective April 19, 2019. Annual percentage yield assumes principal and interest remain on deposit for a full year at current rate. Minimum deposit balance to open the
Maximum Money Market account is $5,000. Funds cannot be transferred from an existing Flushing Bank account. The APY for the Maximum Money Market account is 0.10% for daily account balances between $0 and $4,999, 0.15%
for daily balances between $5,000 and $24,999, 1.25% for daily balances between $25,000 and $74,999, 1.25% for daily balances between $75,000 and $99,999 and 2.00% for daily balances of $100,000 or more. Rates may change at
any time without notice. You must maintain the stated tier balance for the statement cycle to receive the respective disclosed yield for that tier. 2 New money only. APY effective April 19, 2019. Annual percentage yield assumes principal
and interest remain on deposit for a full year at current rate. Minimum deposit balance of $5,000 is required. Funds cannot be transferred from an existing Flushing Bank account. For new IRA and rollover accounts, the minimum
deposit balance is $5,000. Premature withdrawals may be subject to bank and IRS penalties. Rates and offer are subject to change without notice. 3 New money required for new checking accounts only. A Flushing
Bank checking account with a $5,000 minimum balance is required to receive the advertised rate. Certain fees, minimum balance requirements and restrictions may apply. Fees may reduce earnings on these accounts.
A checking account is not required for IRA accounts.
Flushing Bank is a registered trademark
Photos by Caroline Ourso
Pinky Doodle Poodle performed
for the crowd.
Jenna Tse and her daughter Kira explored the cherry
blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.FlushingBank.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/updates
/www.FlushingBank.com