10
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, DEC. 30, 2018
GOING UP: A rendering shows the proposed 16-story high-rises on either side of the taller Tivoli Towers constructed nearby back in
1979.
CHORUS
dust curator Daniel Bernard
Roumain, who has
previously written songs
for the youth choir. For
this song, Roumain took
a letter that spoken-word
poet and playwright Marc
Bamuthi Joseph wrote for
his son, and set the words
to music.
The song is especially
appropriate for an ensemble
of young men, said
Roumain, because they
are still struggling to defi
ne themselves.
“This ensemble is all
men, teens. I think young
men are being challenged
in a lot of ways to think
and rethink who they are,
their relationships to one
another, even sexuality,”
said Roumain, who lives
in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
A lot of the composer’s
music incorporates
hip-hop, rap, and R&B,
and this song includes elements
of artists Frank
Ocean and Drake, said
Roumain, which also
helps the number appeal
to its young performers.
“As a composer my
only job is to write well
for their voices,” he said.
“My other job is to listen
to them and write songs
they want to sing and that
echoes the music we are
all listening to.”
Roumain has not actually
heard the young men
sing his song yet, but is
confi dent it will be glorious.
“There’s no question
they are going to sing it
really well,” he said. “I’m
excited to work with them
again.”
The Brooklyn Youth
Chorus concert will also
feature songs composed by
two other National Sawdust
fi gures: the venue’s
co-founder and artistic
director Paola Prestini,
and current artist-in-residence
Angélica Negrón;
along with work from
other contemporary composers.
“Amplify” at National
Sawdust (80 N. Sixth St.
between Wythe and Kent
avenues in Williamsburg,
www.nationalsawdust.
org). Jan. 8 at 8 pm. $29.
TOWERS
which would together include
518 rentals, 140 of
which would be belowmarket
rate.
But under the new deal,
the builders are required
to dedicate space for an
additional 118 so-called affordable
rentals, bringing
a total of 258 below-market
rate units to the area,
according to Cumbo.
Almost all of the additional
affordable units
will be built by affordablehousing
developer Asian
Americans for Equality,
to which Carmel Partners
agreed to give a roughly
1,000-square-foot parcel
of land in exchange for
Cumbo blessing the upzoning
request as part of
the city’s Universal Land
Use Review Procedure.
That land will be rolled
into the do-good developer’s
existing project at
nearby 141 Montgomery
St., which will exclusively
include affordable housing,
according to a spokesman
for Asian Americans
for Equality, who said the
fi rm previously planned to
construct a building with
50 to 60 below-market-rate
units, but now can pack in
a grand total of 100.
Current zoning regulations
only allow buildings
up to seven stories
or less, and a Carmel
rep previously said that,
should the city block its
rezoning request, the
builder would instead
only include luxury condos
in its project.
The city instituted the
seven-story height limit
back in 1991, as part of
a 13-block downzoning
of properties near the
Botanic Garden done
largely to protect the horticultural
museum and its
then under-construction
Steinhardt Conservatory
from the shadows of large
buildings.
But Cornell and Carmel’s
towers will not stand
nearly as tall as the 28-story
Tivoli Towers built on
nearby Crown Street back
in 1979, and Botanic Garden
bigwigs did not come out
against the new high-rises
— despite their condemnation
by green-space patrons
from across the world
— instead repeatedly citing
a shadow study Cornell
conducted that showed the
project would not block too
much sun from the growing
patch.
Cumbo’s vote to approve
the rezoning concluded
Cornell and Carmel’s
ulurp process just
as the public review for
another, much larger Botanic
Garden–adjacent development
is about to begin
in her district.
Builder Continuum
Company wants to erect
a six-building complex
with towers as high as 37
stories — featuring some
1,450 units, half of which
will be market-rate — on
Franklin Avenue between
Sullivan and Montgomery
Streets, which Botanic
Garden leaders already
took a hard stance against
due to its size.
That land is also currently
zoned for towers no
taller than seven stories,
and Cumbo again will
ultimately cast the key
Council vote on a rezoning
necessary to build the
complex and the hundreds
of below-market-rate units
included within it.
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