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April 13, 2007

Battle over Fifth Ave housing

The Brooklyn Paper

Supporters of a plan to build low-income studio apartments in the South Slope fought back against Borough President Markowitz’s surprise rejection of the proposal, storming a hearing this week to urge the city to move forward with the plan.

Markowitz had rejected the Fifth Avenue Committee proposal for a 49-unit building to house mentally ill and formerly homeless adults, plus low-income seniors, on the grounds that families should also be part of the plan.

Fifth Avenue Committee Executive Director Michelle de la Uz agreed that there is a need for affordable housing for families in Park Slope, but told the City Planning Commission on Wednesday that “unfortunately, this is not the right site for that.”
...
De la Uz said her existing facility at 551 Warren St. in Boerum Hill is an example of what the South Slope can expect. That facility is now home to 94-year-old Dominick Diomede — the Carroll Gardens resident whose eviction became international news last year before he landed his Fifth Avenue Commitee apartment.

But there are countless of Dominick Diomedes losing their apartments every day thanks to gentrifrication and soaring real-estate prices, experts said.

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NoLandGrab: South Slope residents could allay their concerns by checking out the Warren St. facility.

OK, but what does this have to do with Atlantic Yards?

In light of the Fifth Avenue Committee's (FAC) stellar track record of effectively serving the community, could Markowitz's inexplicable rejection of FAC's proposal have more to do with realiation against Michelle de la Uz's stance against Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards and her public role in the Brooklyn Speaks coalition?

Posted by lumi at April 13, 2007 10:27 AM