Broadway Triangle Creates a Wedge in Williamsburg

It’s a classic recipe for neighborhood tension: take two or more local organizations, one pot of municipal funds, a generous sprinkling of competition, and stir. In this case, as The Times reports, there are several representative organizations at odds over the city’s redevelopment plan for the Broadway Triangle, a 31-acre area near the intersection of Broadway and Flushing littered with vacant lots and long overdue for an overhaul. The groups struggling for influence over the plan include the United Jewish Organizations, Ridgwood Bushwick headed by Vito Lopez, and the Churches United for Fair Housing. The funny thing about this recipe for neighborhood tension is that the result depends on whom you ask: Mr. Lopez and the U.J.O. say that the development process has been inclusive, and the goal is to build fair, equal-opportunity, affordable housing. Churches United, however, complains of exclusion in the planning process. Concerning the possible rivalries, Councilman Yassky told the Times: I really don’t think there are great differences in people’s vision for the neighborhood. The politics are intruding. Maybe Ward Dennis of Community Board 1, which supports the mayor’s plan, put it best when he called it a good proposal but a bad process. Marty Markowitz is holding a public hearing on the matter this afternoon at Borough Hall.
Old Feuds Resurface in a Brooklyn Rezoning Fight [NY Times] GMAP