Brooklyn Developers Play the Affordable Housing Advocacy Group Game
Check out the new City Limits for an interesting story on the trend that defines mega-projects in Brooklyn: the recruitment of advocacy groups and community development corporations by developers with promises of affordable housing. Atlantic Yards and developer Bruce Ratner's virtual partnership with ACORN is the Gold Standard and one which the developers of the humongous project proposed for the site of the old Domino Plant in Williamsburg seek to emulate. (It is also a model which Thor Equities will likely put its arms around should its Coney Island project survive in its current iteration.) The model is either genius on the part of developers or--depending on one's point of view--represents a war for the hearts and minds of non-profits between mission-driven advocacy work and the need to grow and survive even if it comes at the expense of mission.
Here's a sample for the story which quotes Williamsburg's Phil DePaolo talking about Churches United for Fair Housing and Rev. Jim O'Shea, which are supporting the massive development:
But to critics like DePaolo, who has lived in Williamsburg since 1979, organizations like Churches United have become "blindsided by crumbs" to the exclusion of displacement and density concerns. "Jim O’Shea is always crying about how people are being priced out, so why team up with these developers? He’s allowing himself to be used just like Bertha Lewis and ACORN with Atlantic Yards," says DePaolo. "These projects aren’t encouraging the creation of stable communities. It’s really a land grab."The story also deals with Quadriad Development's controversial highrise proposal for Berry Street in Williamsburg and its development alliance with the People's Firehouse in Williamsburg. Definitely worth reading if you're interested in how the mega-project game is played in Brooklyn.
O’Shea counters that grassroots organizations should be flexible in negotiating with developers to obtain affordable housing. "Housing for 600 families isn’t crumbs," he says.
Labels: Atlantic Yards, Developers, Domino
posted by rsguskind at 7:50 AM
4 Comments:
So what happens when the continuing bust in housing market continues to unravel as Brooklyn developers rush to dev 7,000 + units most targeted to be luxury $500K +?? The blow up in housing mkt and fin markets hits Wall Street right here! They are going to be laying off lots of bankers and traders and shrinking bonuses- think 2001,2002 size.. That till stop dead in its tracks the flow of lux condo buyers! Will the developers then renig on their committed number of "affordable housing units"?? You bet...so North Brooklyn will be screwed yet again by the developers....desperate to make money in a declining market they will screw affordable housing....Oh and with Wall Street revenues declining the City will be desperate for tax money as less cming from WS. City needs those sale and property taxes. ....So what will Williamsburg and Greenpoint beleft with? A glut of "luxury condos" that are rapidly depreciating and unfulfilled promises on affordable hosuing units and STILL as always it will retain the POLLUTION, Sewage Treatment, Radiac toxic storage center, oil contaiminated brownfields (many now new condo sites) and the biggest oil spill in US on Newton Creek in Greenpoint as as well as the other smaller spill in Williamsburg sloshing around under the ground via the amazing natural spring system. .....YEP you can see how this plays out....
Developers who want to turn North Brooklyn into a wealthy white 'suburb" with "gated" communities and their own insular shopping malls full of big brands like Starbucks, Nike, Polo etc..They post college yuppies whose parents bought the condo for them upon getting some first job in NYC will be told by the realtors how they can flip it in a two years and make big money....(unless of course they were way overpriced to begin with and the housing mkt crash unfolds in NYC.....oh and the realtors will forget to mention that the bldgs and built on contaiminated land that was "remediated"...haha and they won't mention the air or water pollution issues either....What Luxury gives you these kinds of health risks?
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Bad air raises heart risks in young adults: study
By Tan Ee Lyn Wed Aug 15, 6:02 AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Bad air can trigger in young, healthy adults a string of adverse biological changes that are linked to cardiovascular disease, a Taiwan study has shown.
Writing in the second August issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the researchers described how they observed changes in 76 students living on campus at the Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei.
"Urban air pollution is a cocktail of pollutants, when you breathe it gets into your body, through the nose, the respiratory tract, then the lungs," said professor Chang-Chuan Chan at National Taiwan University's College of Public Health.
"The different air pollutants observed here can go into your lungs and invoke inflammation effect in days. They can also go directly, without causing inflammation and affect cardiovascular function, like heart rate variability," Chan said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
Chan's team took blood samples from the students, aged between 18 and 25, and monitored their hearts via electrocardiogram (ECG) three times between April 2004 and June 2005.
They then checked to see if there were changes to four indicators that are normally linked to heart disease.
The four are inflammation, oxidative stress or damage to tissues and cells, coagulation in blood vessels and autonomic dysfunction or disruption of unconscious bodily functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure and temperature regulation.
"After exposure of between one and three days, we can see these kinds of biological responses in young adults," Chan said.
"They hardly can feel the effects, but there are these changes. If your blood is drawn and your heart rate variability is monitored, then definitely there are some changes."
The results of this study are consistent with previous studies, but this is the first time scientists have established a correlation between all four indices and air pollution.
Chan stressed Taipei's air was no different from that in many other cities. The type and amount of air pollutants observed, like suspended particulates of 2.5 and 10 micrometers, nitrate, sulfate and ozone are consistent with those seen elsewhere.
"Even though we use Taipei in this study, these pollutants are commonly experienced by people living in cities ... in China, the amount of their particulates are even higher," he said.
Although such damaging changes were reversible if periods of air pollution were brief, consequences could be dire if exposure to bad air was prolonged.
"If the dirty air stays longer, say for months, or years, then there could be chronic exposure effect," Chan said.
"We're worried for people who already have heart disease and air pollution becomes too serious, then this will be a tipping point, leading to adverse effects, including death."
You could say that part of the incentives that the City could give would be destroying old homes to spruce up the neighborhood.
Even if developers tore down everything around you and built new (which they seem to be doing), you're not going to get a great neighborhood rich in character or architectural interest--you're going to get a mini Houston or, worse, MetroTech part II.
More Yuppie Dopes get suckered by the developers and the City....classic scam....Yuppies/frat boy types trying to be cool but basically cluless!!
a cell phone conversation overhead at Nassau and Banker Streets:
Earnest young wanna-be-yuppie type with phone glued to ear:
"Yeah, so I think I'm going to go in on this real estate thing...well, I know I've never done it before, but I think it's a really good idea...I just didn't see anything I liked in Williamsburg...well, this Greenpoint, it's definitely up-and-coming...of course, there are no *guarantees*, but, this place, there's like absolutely nowhere to go out, something has to change...it's got this really weird neighborhood-y vibe to it, you should see some of the people who live there..."
He then continued walking north on Nassau and I turned left onto Banker. Were I not carrying groceries I would have followed him to get the end of the saga, or to yell NO, BAD INVESTMENT! sucker ....GO Back to Manhattan where you can party with the other velet rope losers in the Meatpacking District...or the Burbs which is were you belong!
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