A Long Look at Vito Lopez's Mixed Legacy

Probably nothing sums up controversial, disgraced former state pol Vito Lopez’s modus operandi better than the sign that tops the entrance of affordable housing complex Rheingold Gardens on Bushwick Avenue, pictured above. “Thank you Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez” it says, over “Rheingold Gardens,” as if that were part of the name of the building.

A lengthy and exhaustive look at Lopez’s impact on his home base of Bushwick by the BK Bureau may actually understate his accomplishments there. Lopez and the nonprofit Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (which he founded) owned, managed, built or protected via legislation most of the affordable and rent stabilized housing in Bushwick as well as arranged health care, senior services and, in some cases, jobs for area residents.

When recent college graduates with arty professions started moving into the loft area, Lopez was quick to align his interests with theirs, passing the Loft Law, to help them legalize and stay in their apartments. Not everyone in Bushwick liked the guy or the appearance of machine politics, but he got a lot done. Now that he’s gone, by coincidence or not, the second stage of Rheingold Brewery development isn’t primarily low income and affordable housing but rather the usual private development common in Northern Brooklyn, with 20 percent set aside for affordable housing. That requirement, by the way — Lopez created it.

After court challenges about discrimination, Lopez project the Broadway Triangle development appears dead, but the Ridgewood Bushwick Council continues, with plans to build two 24-unit affordable apartments to passive house standards.

Vito Lopez’s Bushwick Legacy: A Mix of Scandal and Progress [BK Bureau]
Photo by Google Maps