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Residents Rally Against High Rise Development in Windsor Terrace

A member of Housing not High Rises, a group opposing the two proposed 13-story developments on Prospect Park Avenue, said the development would look like a "couple of big middle fingers.”
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Members of Housing Not High Rises gather outside of the Arrow Linen on Feb. 2, 2025 to rally against a new housing development that could go up on the lot.

More than a hundred Windsor Terrace residents spent Sunday afternoon outside Arrow Linen & Uniform Supply Company, calling on Council Member Shahana Hanif to vote against a rezoning plan that would allow for two 13-story apartments to go up on Prospect Avenue.  

The project is backed by the Magliocco family, who owns Arrow Linen at 441 and 467 Prospect Ave. The Maglioccos are looking to get the property rezoned from an R5B zoning to an R7-1 zoning, which would enable taller buildings to be erected on the property. Their plan is to then sell the rezoned land to developer Apex Development Group, which will then construct two buildings that will include 244 apartments, 61 of which would be affordable. 

Chris Huntington, who has lived in the neighborhood for 22 years, said the new buildings ”would stick up like a couple of big middle fingers.” 

Huntington is a part of a group called Housing Not High Rises, comprised of area residents who oppose the plan. The group wants Hanif to push for 40% of the units to be “affordable for a line worker at Arrow Linen or a teacher at P.S. 154" and that the buildings won’t be taller than nine stories, Huntington said.

Area resident Niel Plotkin said he was afraid the units would only be affordable for “kids who work at Goldman Sachs.” 

Huntington was also concerned Hanif had made “backroom deals” with the Maglioccos before the development was public. 

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 A rendering shows what the two new developments on Prospect Avenue would look like. Photo: Supplied/Gerald J. Caliendo Architects

Public records show Arrow Linen hired two lobbying firms, CMW Strategies LLC in 2020 and later Akerman LLP to help get approval for the project, but Huntington said his neighbors only became aware of the project in 2021. The lobbyists have made their pitch to the NYC Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick and staff; Hanif and her staff; Borough President Antonio Reynoso and his staff; and Community Board 7 board members, records show.

A spokesperson for Hanif told the Brooklyn Reader that the Council Member had met with lobbyists and Arrow Linen's representatives as a part of negotiations "to push them to deepen affordability and better address community concerns."

Arrow Linen, the Maglioccos and the two firms did not respond for comment. 

Huntington said that the Magliocco family has yet to meet with HNH despite multiple invitations to talk, although a lawyer and an architect representing the plan did meet with them. 

The plan was rejected by Community Board 7 by a 30-6 vote on Sept. 18, 2024. However, the plan was later approved by the City Planning Commission and Reynoso, who approved the rezoning with conditions, which included boosting the number of affordable units to 30% to 40% of the total; one building be 100% affordable; or the developer "construct one or both of the buildings using NYCHA Section 8 vouchers."  

At Sunday's rally, there were some residents who said many of the Windsor Terrace residents were against all developments. 

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Residents gathered in the Holy Name of Jesus Church on Feb. 2, 2025, ahead of a rally against a plan which would put up two apartments on Prospect Park Avenue. Photo: Owen Lavine for BK Reader

Dov Alperin felt opponents to the plan were being “disingenuous.”

"A number of people who are a part of a coalition, like [HNH], specifically oppose [all] development," Alperin said.

Alperin said if a compromise were to be struck “I would imagine that there are a number of people who would still be remarkably unhappy about that and still continue to be vocally angry [at Hanif] to no good end.”

Plotkin countered that, everyone in HNH "has been willing to compromise, from the very first meeting."

Hanif now has until Feb. 19 to bring the rezoning proposal to the City Council floor. 

On Monday, HNH met with Hanif’s team. Following the meeting, Hanif told the BK Reader in a statement that she did not support the application in its current form.

"I’ve listened to the community’s concerns about the height of the proposal and the need for additional affordability and have demanded the developer address these issues," she said.

Huntington said the Brooklyn Council Member’s actions will impact her performance in the June Democratic primary.

 




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