East New York/Brownsville

April 5, 2017

Habitat for Humanity will build 48 affordable homes for New Yorkers

In New York City, and the rest of the country, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable housing. To combat this, the Habitat for Humanity NYC announced a plan to build affordable houses for buyers in Brooklyn and Queens. The organization, aimed at constructing quality housing for families in need, will bring 48 units of affordable homes to these boroughs by redeveloping abandoned or foreclosed properties. Since most of these homes have been left vacant for decades, many are run-down and have negatively impacted the surrounding neighborhoods. As Brick Underground learned, the city’s Housing Authority first acquired these properties and then sold them to Habitat for Humanity at $1 each.
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March 24, 2017

Apply for 25 units at new affordable/supportive housing project in Brownsville, from $876/month

By Dana Schulz

The Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville are a huge NYCHA compex, consisting of 24 buildings. Recently, a $56 million public/private investment went towards constructing the first new development here in decades, a 100-unit supportive and affordable housing building designed by Dattner Architects for a vacant parking lot on the site. Of these apartments, 45 will be leased to NYCHA tenants through a site-based waiting list, 30 to formerly homeless families, and 25 to those earning 60 percent of the area median income. This last group is now available through the city's housing lottery for $876/month one-bedrooms and $1,058/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify here

Affordable Housing

March 15, 2017

Governor Cuomo’s $1.4B Central Brooklyn plan stokes gentrification debate

By Devin Gannon

Governor Cuomo announced a $1.4 billion initiative last week to bring resources like health care services and new jobs to Central Brooklyn. According to the governor, the plan, called “Vital Brooklyn,” will bring 7,600 jobs and more than 3,000 new affordable housing units to Brownsville, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. And while Cuomo’s administration found these neighborhoods to be some of the most disadvantaged in the state, residents worry about the possible gentrification and displacement effects (h/t NY Times).
Learn more about Vital Brooklyn here

50K oysters in Jamaica Bay tasked to filter pollutants and protect NYC wetlands

Photo: Flickr/nycwater

September 7, 2016

50K oysters in Jamaica Bay tasked to filter pollutants and protect NYC wetlands

By Metro New York

The world might be your oyster, but Jamaica Bay is full of the bivalve molluscs. Starting with 36 thousand oysters last week and 12 thousand more this week, the largest single installation of breeding oysters in New York City began. A spokesman from the mayor’s office said hundreds of thousands of juvenile oysters will be added […]

Uncategorized

August 23, 2016

Housing lotto kicks off today for 27 Bed-Stuy/Ocean Hill apartments, from $834/month

By Diane Pham

As a subsection of Bed-Stuy—and with a location adjacent to rapidly gentrifying Bushwick—Ocean Hill has seen renewed interest from developers in the last few years. The approved rezoning of East New York in February has also given the neighborhood a big boost and brokers have started calling the area Brooklyn's "last frontier." As such, although the area median income remains very low ($35,000), home prices are quickly moving skyward and flipping is already in full effect. But not all is lost for those with lesser means. Starting today, qualifying NYC residents can apply for 27 newly constructed apartments at 1676 Broadway and 8 Rockaway Avenue. Apartments ranging from one- to three-bedrooms have been priced between $834 and $1,163 a month and are being offered to households earning between $30,000 and $63,000.
See more on if you qualify here

Affordable Housing

July 27, 2016

Nearly 200 Affordable Units Up For Grabs in East New York, Starting at $788/Month

By Dana Schulz

The affordable housing go-to's at Dattner Architects are at it again, this time with a six-building complex in East New York known as Stanley Commons, which includes five four-story buildings and one seven-story building surrounded by a large courtyard. There will also be a 19,000-square-foot community facility operated by Good Shepherds Services, a social service and youth development organization, and Man Up Inc., a local agency focusing on neighborhood improvement. The City Planning Commission recently approved a controversial rezoning of the neighborhood, part of de Blasio's push to increase affordable housing here, so it makes sense that 191 units are now up for grabs through the city's housing lottery for individuals earning 60 percent of the area media income. This ranges from a $788/month studio to $1,182/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify here

Affordable Housing

July 5, 2016

Lottery Opens for 259 Affordable Units in East New York, Starting at $494/Month

By Dana Schulz

As part of his city-wide campaign, Mayor de Blasio has made a push for affordable housing in East New York, where the City Planning Commission recently approved a controversial rezoning. Local residents cited concerns that the changes would lead to displacement and gentrification in a neighborhood where the median income is $35,000 annually. But the city's latest housing lottery offers a whopping 259 units for households earning between $18,275 (single persons) and $71,760 (eight people). The apartments, 50 percent of which are reserved for local residents, range from $494/month studios to $1,322/month four-bedrooms. These units are within the third phase of Gateway Elton Street, a new multi-building affordable housing development with ground-floor retail and community facility space in the Spring Creek section of East New York. In total, it will offer 659 apartments and roughly 70,000 square feet of commercial space. Phase three, located at 1062 Elton Street and 475 Locke Street, was designed by Dattner Architects, who organized the two-building site around a central courtyard with parking and outdoor recreation areas.
More on the development here

Affordable Housing

April 13, 2016

Apply for 86 Affordable Apartments in Brownsville’s Prospect Plaza, Starting at $689/Month

By Dana Schulz

Through tools like rezonings, the city has been trying in recent years to increase affordable housing opportunities in lower-income Brooklyn neighborhoods like East New York and Brownsville, and the latter now has 86 brand new apartments available through the city's affordable housing lottery. The units are part of the much larger Prospect Plaza development by Dattner Architects, which altogether will transform a 4.5-acre site into 364 units of affordable and public housing, as well as a 22,000-square-foot supermarket, 12,000-square-foot community facility, and a rooftop greenhouse. The first batch of units to come online, located at 1740-1760 Prospect Place and 396 Saratoga Avenue, range from $689/month one-bedrooms to $1,181/month three-bedrooms for families earning between $24,995 and $63,060 annually. They'll feature "exquisitely finished kitchen and bathrooms," energy efficient appliances and fixtures, on-site laundry rooms, a fitness room, and parking for an additional fee.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

Map of proposed rezoning via Department of City Planning

February 25, 2016

City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

By Michelle Cohen

The New York City Planning Commission voted 12-1 in approval of Mayor de Blasio's controversial rezoning plan for East New York, Gothamist reports. It's the first of 15 low-income neighborhoods scheduled for rezoning as part of the Mayor's affordable housing plan, which promises to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning this spring. As part of what is known as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), rezoning plans for East New York's Cypress Hills neighborhood and adjacent Ocean Hill in Bed-Stuy would have 7,000 new apartments built by 2030, 3,447 of which will be designated affordable, in addition to one million square feet of commercial space. Of those affordable units, 80 percent would be reserved for families (defined as a household of three, with any number of earners) making no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or $46,000; 27 percent would go to families making 40 percent of the AMI or $31,000.
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POPULAR East New York/Brownsville BUILDINGS

110 Dinsmore Place 110 Dinsmore Place

7 Livonia Avenue 7 Livonia Avenue

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2840 Atlantic Avenue 2840 Atlantic Avenue

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535 East 98th Street 535 East 98th Street

672 Powell Street 672 Powell Street

475 Locke Street 475 Locke Street

1860 Eastern Parkway 1860 Eastern Parkway

677 Van Sinderen Avenue 677 Van Sinderen Avenue

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603 Mother Gaston Blvd 603 Mother Gaston Blvd

487 Livonia Avenue 487 Livonia Avenue

463 Livonia Avenue 463 Livonia Avenue

2628 Fulton Street 2628 Fulton Street

August 24, 2015

Should Poor Neighborhoods Stay Poor to Avoid Gentrification? Mayor De Blasio Speaks Out

By Michelle Cohen

Recently on the Brian Lehrer radio show on WNYC, Mayor De Blasio addressed questions about the effects inclusionary development–i.e. giving developers the green light to build market rate housing if they set aside 25-30 percent of the units for low- and middle-income residents–has on the quality of life in lower-income neighborhoods. A growing concern among housing activists is that reliance on this kind of inclusionary zoning leads to gentrification that pushes out the lower income residents due to the 70-75 percent of market rate units bringing new, wealthy residents and new businesses that will cater to them.
Hear what the mayor has to say

Affordable Housing

November 17, 2014

The ‘Hood Kids Are All Right: Why ‘Inner-City’ Doesn’t Always Mean a Tragic Ending

By Andrew Cotto

Most of the reported stories out of NYC’s “inner city” (code for ‘hoods) are tragic ones. We hear about stabbings and shootings and neglected children struggling to survive. We hear of turf wars and rampant addiction and people generally unable to take care of themselves. And it is from these dispatches that certain neighborhoods become notorious, their reputations inflated by our fearful imaginations and general unfamiliarity along with a harsh reality that cannot be denied. To the uninformed, these are dangerous places, war zones, to be avoided at all costs, at least, until the sheriff of gentrification rides into town to dispense safety through the pacifying panacea of increased rents and artisanal pickles. I like fancy pickles, though the idea of people being forced from their homes is troubling. But this is not a rant against gentrification; it’s a shout out to the “inner city” neighborhoods that may someday get gentrified. More specifically, it’s about the good folks that populate those neighborhoods who manage to hold down the ‘hood and live their lives with dignity in the face of tremendous obstacles.
Andrew shares his experience as a teacher in the hood

City Living

August 19, 2014

Real Estate Wire: East NY Residents Weigh In On the City’s Revitalization Plans; A Father and Son’s Land-Use Legacy

By Diane Pham

Residents of East New York react to the city’s revitalization plan for their neighborhood. [WSJ] A developer’s best friends: The father and son law team who have worked for decades to secure changes to properties’ permitted use or size. [WSJ] Renzo Piano’s design for the new Whitney Museum along the High Line is almost complete. [Curbed] A […]

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