'Who Is This For?': BK Neighbors Rally Against Fourth Ave Tower

SOUTH SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn neighbors are gearing up to oppose a partly-affordable apartment tower on Fourth Avenue that they say will worsen, not improve, a housing crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of Sunset Park residents and local organizers rallied Monday in front of the 737 Fourth Ave. Dunkin Donuts where developers plan to build a 14-story mixed-use building.

The project — set to face Community Board 7 for the first time this week — will set aside a quarter of its 140 units as "affordable" under the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.

But neighbors contend the small portion of units don't go far enough to bring much-needed affordable housing to the neighborhood, where families have become only more strapped for affordable options amid the coronavirus crisis.

"We need affordable housing, but this is not the project to give it to us," said Marcela Mitaynes, who was recently elected to the New York State Assembly. "...We are not against development, but the development must be for the people in this community."

The Fourth Avenue building, which falls on the South Slope-Greenwood Heights border, proposes changing the property's zoning so developers can build almost 100,000 square feet of new residential space and a 8,600-square-foot "commercial overlay."

The complex would replace a Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins hybrid store that sits on the lot, along with a small parking lot. It also includes an "easement" for the MTA, or an agreement that would allow the transit agency to build an elevator at the nearby 25th Street station.

Under the city's program, 25 percent of the units in the building would be set aside for those who make 40 or 60 percent of the area median income.

But neighbors on Monday contended the neighborhood instead needs buildings that are 100-percent affordable. They also pointed to the city's nearly $80,000 definition of "area median income" to argue that even the affordable units won't serve the residents.

The median household income for Community Board 7 residents in 2016 was $67,871, according to the U.S. Census. About 28 percent of residents in the area live under the poverty line and nearly half are rent-burdened, city data shows.

"The [Mandatory Inclusionary Housing] has failed and it's failed communities of color," Antoinette Martinez said Monday. "What we are looking for are real housing opportunities."

Totem, the developers, contend the complex goes above and beyond its requirements to benefit the neighborhood. After meetings with the community this year, they agreed to eliminate studio units and focus on family-oriented apartments and include units at a 30-percent income rate on top of the city's affordability requirement.

But the request for 100-percent affordability isn't feasible given the high price for the property's land and the cash-strapped city's inability to give a subsidy to the project, Totem Principal Tucker Reed said.

"Every piece of feedback we've been given we've tried to take seriously — the one piece we can't address is the 100-percent, the land isn't free to us," Reed said.

"The sentiment that was expressed at the rally about the need for additional affordable housing in Sunset Park is something we're totally on board with. It’s the reason why we looked at an empty parking lot on top of a subway station as a reason to create transit-oriented development. Unfortunately we have to abide by the rules we’re given."

The project is set to face a public hearing with Community Board 7's Land Use Committee on Thursday at 6 p.m. A link to the virtual meeting can be found here. Comments about the application can be submitted to bk07@cb.nyc.gov.