Clifton Place Mayhem Update: Here Comes the Demonstration

The ongoing demolition nastiness in preparation for construction of a 12-story building on the border between Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant is moving into the demonstration and rally phase. Residents report they will be having a rally and press conference on Sunday, August 20 at 2:45PM in front of the building site, which is at 335-345 Greene Avenue between Classon and Franklin. A neighbor writes:

I live on Clifton Place between Franklin & Classon. There is a large old 1 story commercial building next to my house that goes through to Greene Ave. It is currently being demolished to make way for a 12 story building that the developer has gotten approved using the "community facilities" FAR boost. All of the buildings on these 2 blocks are 3 or 4 stories, except for a couple of five story buildings. We've got a good group of neighbors together that are trying to fight this...

There is more to this story, some of which has been reported by Brownstoner in his always insightful way and by the superbly community-oriented Clinton Hill Blog, including the cavalier manner of the tear down, which has resulted in 31 complaints to the Department of Buildings so far for things like working after hours and unsafe demolition.

Wonder what it would be like to live next door to this baby? Read on:

The demo, being done by the fine folks at MMG Design, has been extremely unsafe and unprofessional. They are the most unpleasant people I have ever spoken to. I called and spoke with the owner Marie Grasso one day when I looked out our back window and they had workmen 20 feet up on the wall above our yard, prying off cinder blocks off directly above the head of my 2 year old son who was playing in the yard and my wife who was hanging the laundry. This is without any kind of protective fence or netting, or even the human decency to yell down and let us know they were working and that maybe we should move the kid.

Council Member Letitia James is helping out with the rally on Sunday, which is billed as protesting "out of context development." Clearly, however, there is more than just a 12-story building that will tower over its three- and four-story neighbors to this Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy story. As our e-mailer put it: "We are fighting 2 battles, one to try and keep a 12 story building from being built on our block and another to make sure our houses are still standing if it is."

[Photo is courtesy of the Clinton Hill Blog.]

UDPATE: Check out the Demolition Porn Video from this afternoon. Click below to watch the contractors get shut today for doing a mechanical demolition without a permit. Note building pieces on the sidewalk where they could have hit someone.