Crown Heights Demands More Industrial Space In New Developments

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Crown Heights wants more space for local artisans, craft makers and light industrial workers and is teaming up with Brooklyn Borough Hall to get it.

Crown Height's Community Board 8 and Borough President Eric Adams announced Friday a new proposal to require residential developments in manufacturing zones include spaces for light industry, which they argue will create much-needed local jobs.

“Our approach to urban planning should reflect our vision for the city, one that encourages a diversity of opportunities to live and work that in turn advances communities of diverse backgrounds and ideas,” said Borough President Adams.

“This is truly community-oriented planning that I believe the City should adopt.”

The proposal calls on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of City Planning to consider a new model for mixed-use development include affordable space for light industrial, community facility, and artisan “maker” uses.

Community Board 8 — which represents about 120,000 people in Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Weeksville — developed the proposal to combat its loss of manufacturing spaces, despite having 1.6 miles of land zoned for commercial use within its borders.

CB 8 chair Ethel Tyus said the problem is that current city policy does not require developers to take advantage of manufacturing zones and cited North Crown Heights as an example.

“We’ve learned from the experience of other neighborhoods in Brooklyn that means new development will only be residential and retail," said Tyus.

"While our community needs affordable housing, no housing is affordable if you don’t have a job that pays a decent wage.”

Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo also threw her support behind the proposal, which she argued would provide local jobs in Brooklyn neighborhoods that need them.

"Our zoning tools should ensure that new development includes a dynamic mixture of residential, commercial, light industrial, arts, and non-profit spaces,” Cumbo said.

“This mixture of uses leads to a mixture of people and economic opportunity and helps make our Brooklyn neighborhoods the diverse and vibrant communities that we all know and love.”