Community Board 8, which covers Prospect Heights and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, voted to support the city's Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan on Thursday, marking a critical point that will transform the area with new homes, businesses and streetscapes.
The vote passed unanimously, 26-0, but the board added 25 conditions related to economic development, affordable housing, zoning, tenant protections and other land use measures.
These conditions were adopted at prior subcommittee meetings, and included, among other things, a creation of a list that would identify area tenants who will likely be in danger of displacement to get prioritized new housing. Community members reviewed and amended some of those conditions one final time before voting on the proposal, tweaking several conditions related to the creation of an oversight group for the plan, the need for public open spaces on new developments and the necessity for free legal counsel to tenants.
“We wouldn't be here quite literally and specifically without Community Board 8, so really it’s the labor of love that you have all put forth,” said City Council Member Crystal Hudson, addressing the crowd inside the Brooklyn Children’s Museum auditorium.
Lifelong Crown Heights resident Dion Michael Ashman welcomed the conditions crafted by the board, but questioned what the final outcome will be once the new buildings are constructed.
“The reality is, even when developers promise certain things, they don’t deliver on them,” said Ashman. “And the people who are harmed the most, are our neighbors that have made their apartments a home,” said Ashman, referring to longtime tenants.
The community board's approval, although nonbinding, is a signal that Atlantic Avenue, between Vanderbilt and Nostrand Avenues, will eventually see larger buildings erected on the busy corridor, as well as the risk of displacement for 63 businesses in the area, as outlined in the AAMUP Environmental Impact Statement on the New York City Department of City Planning website.
Community Board member and Crown Heights resident Tafari John-King told BK Reader how important the 25 conditions were to the board.
“I think that we gave a lot of proposals that I hope the city will take seriously and will help make Crown Heights a hub for innovation and also a model for how to keep folks in the community as development is progressing rather than moving them out and displacing them,” said John-King.
The rezoning plan, with the conditions, are now up for review by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso on Jan. 15, 2025 at 6:00pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
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