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August 29, 2006

Greene Ave Development Rally Attracts Pols

rally
Following the model of development activism honed by the residents of the South Slope and Greenwood Heights, a group calling itself the Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy North Neighborhood Improvement Association has been getting the word out about its nascent campaign to rein in a developer whose irresponsible construction practices and plans for a 12-story building on a block of 4- and 5-story houses have neighbors in a tizzy. (We first reported on the shoddy demolition and DOB violations three weeks ago — reporters love to complain to us when we fail to link to them but getting any reciprocation is like getting blood from a stone. Grrr.) Anyway, residents want developer Joseph Tyrnauer of WT Construction — whose contractors have racked up 51 violations to date — to scale back his planned 12-story, 125-foot structure to conform to the 50-foot height cap that will be part of the rezoning for the area. That's gonna be a tough sell. Not surprisingly, the developer has avoided having a fireside chat with his critics. Councilwoman Tish James and candidates Jeffries and Batson both showed up at the rally last week to show their solidarity with the aggrieved citizens.
Berry Street Retail Space [FG Courier] GMAP
Pillaging Clifton Place MMG-Style [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 8:54 AM | Comments (14)
Categories: Development

Comments

Agree that it's pretty unlikely some developer is going to voluntarily cut the size of his building in half. These guys should be focusing on the safety and violations angle.

Posted by: Kel at August 29, 2006 9:28 AM

if the current zoning allows 125 feet, then they're going to build 125 feet. stop complaining. anyway, these zoning reductions do nothing but keep the supply of apartments artificially deflated and prop up the prices for selfish existing owners. go nimbys

Posted by: Anonymous at August 29, 2006 10:02 AM

this has been my block for six years and I am all for it. it takes a huge decrepit site and gives us the liveliness of new neighbors. yes, it's a dense building, but one large building on a low-density block won't kill anyone, and there are three (count em!) community gardens on the same block.

Posted by: Anonymous at August 29, 2006 10:18 AM

CHB linked to your original coverage on our first post about this:

http://clintonhillblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/hill-news.html

Posted by: lesterhead at August 29, 2006 10:50 AM

Quod Erat Demonstratum, Lesterhead!

Posted by: brownstoner at August 29, 2006 11:00 AM

Stop with the Greenwood Heights shit already. No such neighborhood exists. That's North Sunset Park you're referring to.

Posted by: sunsetparker at August 29, 2006 12:03 PM

Greenwood Heights does exist. And no amount of complaining by you or anyone else will ever change that.

Posted by: Anonymous at August 29, 2006 12:23 PM

Greenwood Hts,. is on maps dating back before the Battle of Brooklyn. Also know as the "Heights of the Green Wood," Heights of Green-Wood" and at one time, funny enough, "Heights of Gowanus" (which was circa 1780's). Either way, it is here to stay. Community Board 7 acknowledges the name as does the New York Times. Who ya gonna argue with now? ;)

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at August 29, 2006 1:11 PM

Heck, to get technical, Sunset Park (as a name of a section of Bklyn) did not exist until the park was made:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Park%2C_Brooklyn

But no need to debate. I love all the nabes! And a proud resident of GREENWOOD HTS.

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at August 29, 2006 1:18 PM

Anon 10:48

You can use the link below to request a street tree from the city:

http://nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets/street_tree_info.html

Posted by: New2Brooklyn at August 29, 2006 3:07 PM

Sunset Parker what name was that peice of ground called before the white man landed and why is it not called that today?

Posted by: Anonymous at August 30, 2006 5:07 AM

Are you defending your position by pointing out that other people commited genocide?

In my previous post, I chose not to point out that people who use the term Greenwood Heights are no different than Hitler when he claimed parts of France, Austria and Poland to be part of Germany. But since you brought up history...

Posted by: Sunset Parker at August 30, 2006 1:22 PM

Just noticed that my previous post addressing the misinformation in many of the comments was deleted, but here goes again.

1) Community Board 7 does NOT recognize Greenwood Heights as a neighborhood. Go to the website, they represent two neighborhoods: Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace

2) The Heights of Greenwood refers to hills in a forest that is no longer there. Not a neighborhoood. The area referred to is smack dab in the middle of a cemetery and NOT the area of Sunset Park that some mislabel as Greenwood Heights. The name is a total misnomer, geographically and by the fact that the area claimed as the neighborhood is forty to fifty feet lower than the other half of Sunset Park that it is attempting to annex.

3) The name only came about when brokers attempted to separate the Polish section of Sunset Park from the latin section (previously Scandanavian and Italian)for resale purposes. This is morally exactly akin to redlining (now illegal)

The name stems solely from an attempt at playing on racial fears and stereotypes. Nothing else. To continue to perpetrate the misnomer "Greenwood Heights" is to continue to perpetrate that racism.

Sunset Park has been a neighborhood since well into the nineteenth century. The part of Sunset Park that brokers and recent newcomers call Greenwood Heights is still not a neighborhood and the "name" has only existed for a decade or so.

Posted by: Sunset Parker at August 30, 2006 2:58 PM

I don't know where the "Clinton Hill" part came from, but the Northern Bed-Stuy Neighborhood Improvement Association has been the block association here for at least a decade.

I would be happy to have buildings on that lot, delighted. 12 stories, however, is absurd.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 1, 2006 4:14 PM

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