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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, DEC. 16, 2018
Specializing In
Diamond
Engagement Rings
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Layaway Plans Available
Bridesmaids Gifts
Fine Jewelry For All Occasions
Bobby’s Jewelers
Bring us your design and together we will create it
ALL MAJOR CREDIT CAREDS ACCEPTED
UNION CHURCH OF BAY RIDGE
presents
Winter Songs
A holiday concert with PhiloSonia
Gustav Holst “Christmas Day” - Choral Fantasy on Old Carols
Selections from J. S. Bach Christmas Cantata, BWV 63
Schumann Piano Quintet, Op.44
Ola Gjeilo selection from Winter Songs
Performed by Union Church of Bay Ridge Choir
& Musicians from PhiloSonia
Sunday, December 16, 2018, 3 PM
7915 Ridge Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11209
(On the corner of 80th St. & Ridge Blvd)
Suggested Donation: $15
718-745-0438
It’s a tall order
Flatbush community board green-lights
13-story tower on site of old gas station
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
This building will take the
“fl at” out of Flatbush!
A 13-story mixed-use
tower is one step closer to
rising on Flatbush land
currently occupied by a vacant
BP gas station, after local
civic gurus on Monday
approved its developer’s request
to rezone the lot.
Community Board 14’s
full board overwhelmingly
voted in favor of rezoning
the now commercial property
at 1640 Flatbush Ave.
to make way for builder SL
Green Realty’s proposed
high-rise, which will include
more than 100 residential
units — dozens of
which will be below-market
rate — and retail space.
The proposed building’s
top 11 fl oors will contain
some 115 units, 34 of which
will be so-called affordable
and set aside for families
making an average of 80
percent of the area median
income, which is $62,750
for a two-person household
or $52,150 for a four-person
household, according to
city data .
And the bottom two
fl oors of the tower rising
near Aurelia Court will
contain retail space, according
to plans shared
with CB14.
Some residents of the
neighborhood’s 20-story
Philip Howard Houses coop
complex, which is just
across the street from the
development site, came
out to oppose the project
at a Dec. 5 public hearing,
claiming the proposed
tower would cast detrimental
shadows, block views
from their apartments,
and invite more traffi c to
local streets with its retail
spaces.
But those locals live
within the boundaries
of Community Board 18,
whose members don’t get
to formally weigh in on the
rezoning request as it applies
to a property outside
of their district.
Still, CB14 members
took some of the concerns
RISING UP: Community Board 14’s full board on Monday voted
overwhelmingly to approve rezoning necessary to build this
13-story, mixed-use building in Flatbush. S9 Architecture
to heart, issuing their approval
with stipulations
that included the builder
fi nd ways to mitigate parking
and traffi c problems its
tower could bring, conduct
a shadow study in order to
minimize any shade cast by
the structure, and set aside
more affordable units.
SL Green bigwigs
agreed to work with the
city on the recommendations
regarding traffi c and
parking, noting they will
consult with the Department
of Transportation on
the possibility of relocating
loading zones for the tower’s
planned retail space
from the residential Aurelia
Court to the busier Flatbush
Avenue.
But the developer has
yet to provide proof of any
shadow study, nor offered
to add more below-marketrate
units to the project,
according to the chairman
of CB14, who said offi
cials may further push
those points as the rezoning
request moves through
the city’s lengthy Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure
— which also requires
input from the borough
president, City Planning
Commission, Council, and
Mayor DeBlasio.
“It is likely that the borough
president, the City
Planning Commission, and
Council will have the opportunity
to take into account
CB14’s recommendation
and stipulations,” said
Alvin Berk.
Indeed, Flatbush Councilman
Jumaane Williams
— who holds the key Council
vote on the rezoning request,
as the project sits in
his district — has already
demanded SL Green up the
number of the building’s
below-market-rate units by
reserving an additional 25
percent for families making
60 percent of the area
medium income, which for
a three-person household
comes out to $48,960, according
to city data.
A spokeswoman for SL
Green, however, declined
to discuss their 1640 Flatbush
project or any potential
changes to it when contacted
by this newspaper.
Following the board’s
purely advisory vote to support
the builder’s rezoning
request, the proposal now
heads to Borough President
Adams, who will host
a public hearing about the
project on Dec. 17 before issuing
his own recommendation.
Borough President Adams’s
hearing on the 1640
Flatbush Ave tower at Borough
Hall (209 Joralemon
St. between Court Street
and Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard
in Downtown) on
Dec. 17 at 6 pm.