Vote on Williamsburg High Rise Coming Tonight

An important vote on that 24-story building that Quadriad Development wants to build at N. 3rd Street and Berry in Williamsburg is coming up tonight. The building was approved by Community Board 1's Land Use Committee last week. Tonight's meeting of the full Community Board takes place at 6:30 PM at the Swinging 60's Senior Citizen Center, which is lcoated at 211 Ainslie Street (at the corner of Manhattan Avenue). Community activist Phil DePaolo is urging a big community turnout to oppose the structure.

In the meantime, today's Daily News covers the plan. Here's an excerpt:

Just two years after a major rezoning of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, a developer is seeking another zoning change in return for more affordable housing.

What's more, this proposal could set a precedent for similar projects throughout the city, both opponents and supporters said.

Quadriad Realty Partners presented a plan last week to build a 24-story residential tower in north Williamsburg, circumventing the current five-story limit allowed in the area. The proposal sparked outrage among residents at a Community Board 1 meeting. They said it would jeopardize protections for low-rise neighborhoods, including ongoing efforts to rezone Dyker Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Fort Greene.

"If we allow them to do this here, we give them the keys to the car. We're basically undermining every down-zoning in the city - present, past and future," said neighborhood activist Philip DePaolo of the New York Community Council....

Quadriad president Henry Wollman argued that his proposal was a necessary precedent to meet affordable housing needs. "There are no other solutions on the table," he said.

Wollman identified a seven-block area of north Williamsburg for rezoning, including a block where Quadriad plans to build the Williamsburg Terrace, which would more than double the allowed density for housing.

In addition, commercial corridors such as Coney Island Ave. and once-industrial areas such as Gowanus would be ideal locations for building more affordable housing, Wollman said.

Quadriad's plans are still preliminary, despite discussions with the community for more than a year. City Planning Department spokeswoman Jennifer Torres said the agency had not been approached about the proposal.

This is the first mention we have seen by the firm of building highrises in Gowanus.