DINE THE BOROUGHS CONTINUES THROUGH MARCH 29! READ MORE INSIDE
March 22–28, 2019
Including Brooklyn Courier, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Courier, Brooklyn Heights Courier, & Williamsburg Courier
ALSO SERVING PROSPECT HEIGHTS, WINDSOR TERRACE, KENSINGTON, AND GOWANUS
THROWING SHADE
Expert claims proposed Franklin Ave towers would devestate Bklyn
Botanic Garden, but civic leader doubts local pol will stop their rise
Green space’s fate
in hands of known
fl ip-fl opper: leader
BY COLIN MIXSON
She’s worried about history repeating.
A Crown Heights civic
leader doubted that the neighborhood’s
councilwoman will
uphold her opposition to a controversial
39-story development
that experts say could
cast harmful shadows on the
nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden,
citing the legislator’s history
of approving other polarizing
projects — after making
showy displays against them.
“I think that eventually
she’ll come back and say that,
after looking at the studies that
were done, and all the information,
and all the evidence that
points to maybe this isn’t such a
bad thing, she’ll vote in favor of
it,” Community Board 9 Chairwoman
Patricia Baker said of
Councilman Laurie Cumbo
(D–Crown Heights).
A rep for Cumbo recently
slammed developer Continuum
Company’s proposal to
rezone the lot at 960 Franklin
Ave. in order to erect two
39-story towers with marketrate
and so-called affordable
housing, arguing the area is
already overburdened by too
many large buildings.
“This proposal, developed
with zero community consultation,
or input, may need a full
TOWERS OF GLOOM: Two 39-story towers proposed to rise on Franklin Avenue would destroy half of all plants
growing in the nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden within 10 years, according to a horticulturalist at the preserve.
Continuum Company Continued on page 46
reset, not just tinkering around
the edges,” Crystal Hudson,
Complex’s shadows
would destroy half
of garden, pro says
BY COLIN MIXSON
Shadows cast by a proposed
39-story development in
Crown Heights would destroy
half of the Brooklyn Botanic
Garden’s collection of rare and
exotic plants within 10 years,
according to one of the horticultural
museum’s chief green
thumbs, who urged members
of the City Planning Commission
to seriously consider the
project’s shadow impact.
“The rezoning proposal
would cause serious, tangible
damage to the gardens,”
Rowan Blaik, director of living
collections at Brooklyn
Botanic Garden, said during
a March 12 public-scoping
meeting about the development.
Developer Continuum
Company is seeking permission
to rezone the property at
960 Franklin Ave., the site of
an old spice factory, to pave the
way for two 39-story mixed-use
towers , which together would
host a whopping 1,578 residential
units split evenly between
luxury and below-market-rate
housing.
Garden honchos have for
months claimed that the development
will bathe the green
space in as many as three
hours of additional darkness
per day. Blaik stressed the effect
those shadows would have
on critical growing facilities
Continued on page 46
Vol. 39 No. 12 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
/BROOKLYNPAPER.COM