Developer Pulls Project Amid Fears It Would Cast Shadow Over Brooklyn Botanic Garden

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The developer behind a controversial plan to build apartment towers next to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden yanked the proposal just hours before the project's first public review.

Cornell Realty told Community Board 9 on Wednesday that it was withdrawing its plan to build two 16-story buildings off Franklin Avenue. The board's land use committee was scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday night on the project, which faced resistance from neighbors who said the towers would cast shadows on the garden.

The real estate developer withdrew the plan "with the intention of re-submitting," according to Alicia Boyd, a neighborhood activist who is fighting the project.

"We were excited," Boyd told Patch. "But it’s the saying — 'You might have won the battle, but you didn’t win the war.'"

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A city shadow study showed a minimal shadow impact on the garden. Boyd has criticized the study, saying it didn't include potential bulkheads on the building, which would have created longer shadows.

Her group, the Movement To Protect The People, started a petition against the plan that got more than 4,000 signatures. Members of the group have visited other Brooklyn community boards, hoping to drum up borough-wide opposition to the project.

Cornell Realty owns the land at 40 Crown St. and 931 Carroll St., where the towers would be built. The properties around the garden, though, have strict zoning restrictions to allow sunlight to flood the green space.

The developer was seeking an exemption to build the towers under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing initiative. That initiative lets developers build taller buildings in exchange for including affordable housing in their developments.

To get that exemption, though, developers have to go through the city's lengthy land use procedure, which starts with a community board review. That would have begun Wednesday night.

"Cornell Realty this afternoon contacted the community board and said they’re withdrawing their application," CB9's land use committee chair, Michael Liburd, told a cheering crowd Wednesday, according to DNA Info.

The project would also need a crucial vote from City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, who is facing pressure from the community on several other controversial projects in Crown Heights.

Boyd, the neighborhood activist, suggested that Cornell may have pulled this plan to ease political tension on Cumbo with the intention of re-submitting it after November's local elections.

Cumbo is "already under a lot of pressure" from the proposed Bedford-Union Armory development deal, Boyd said. "If she gets elected, (Cornell) could come back."

Cornell could also decide to develop the property under existing zoning regulations, which would not require the approval process.

In a statement emailed to Patch, Cumbo said she negotiated with "local elected officials, tenant leaders and the community" to get Cornell to withdraw the proposal.

"Collectively, we stood firm that large-scale market rate housing does not represent our community's need for real affordable, low-income housing," Cumbo said. "We have shown that we can win as a community when we work together. This victory should inspire and resonate with communities throughout New York City."

Patch has reached out to Cornell Realty, Liburd (the CB9 land use committee chair) and the Botanic Garden for more information and we'll update this post throughout the day as we hear back.

Images via NYC Department of City Planning