Parking Spots Could Be Built Near BK Transit Despite Pols' Pleas

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Construction on a subway-adjacent apartment building with over 50 parking spots could move forward soon, demolition permits show, despite recent pleas from politicians that developers stop building parking near public transit.

Permits to demolish a gas station on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Douglas street were filed last month in order to reportedly build an 18-story apartment building with 56 parking spots located several blocks away from subway and bus stops.

Local politicians, though, sent a letter to the city last week opposing the development of parking spots in exactly this kind of "transit-rich" area, saying that square footage for cars should be eliminated in lieu of affordable housing as a way to fight climate change and revitalize small businesses.

"[The Department of City Planning] should take our concerns seriously and do right by New Yorkers who deserve affordable housing, parks, and other public amenities, not parking," said Park Slope's Council Member, Shahana Hanif, who co-signed the letter alongside nine Brooklyn leaders.

The city's planning agency, lawmakers said, should ask residential developers building near bus and subway stops to cut minimum parking requirements — a 1950s-era provision of the city's zoning law that tired (but largely failed) to reduce congestion.

Cutting parking would mean that the city could build more affordable housing, reducing construction costs and carbon emissions, and create additional retail spaces, according to the lawmakers.

Reached for comment last week, the Department of City Planning said, "we are working every day to tackle the climate crisis and the affordable housing crisis, and we can't let parking get in the way of those critical efforts."

Representatives of the project at 164 Fourth Avenue, which is still awaiting approval from the Department of Buildings in order to move forward, did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Related Article: Stop Building Parking In BK Developments Near Subways: Officials