BROOKLYN COMMUNITY BOARD 6
ECONOMIC/WATERFRONT/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & HOUSING
COMMITTEE MEETING
May 15, 2017
Attendance:
R. Bashner A C. Dukuly P R. Luftglass P D. Carcache E V. Heramia P S. Cialek P A. Krasnow P A. Devening A J. Li E
Guests:
O. Jonas – Rep for State Senator Montgomery N. Ferrella - NYCHA G. Faeth S. Baluyut R. DuBois P. Smith C. Dukuly A. Duclo S. Aronowsky T. Graham C. Wilson L. Rawls C. Nimmons
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Wyckoff Gardens Community Center
NYCHA presentation on Next Gen Neighborhoods project: Nicole Ferriera, Executive Vice President - Real Estate at New York City Housing Authority David Pristin, Chief of Staff
Review of NYCHA NextGen Neighborhood project: Statistics on number of developments, buildings, residents, maintenance and operating costs, funding sources and uses. Decrease in operations funding since 2001, as the age of the building stock and maintenance needs increases. NYCHA currently has a $100 Million deficit. Public Housing stock has shrunk across the country in many major cities, but “NYC is committed to preserving” public housing. NextGen seeks to build mixed income housing on NYCHA property with goals to: 1. Generate revenue for repairs (on site and citywide)
2. Build on underutilized property 3. Engage tenants in the process Wyckoff Gardens project status: Community input: Four community planning sessions with residents were held, and multiple other meetings. Initial planning session asked residents to describe what they like and don’t like about Wyckoff Gardens. Residents reviewed the siting and sizing options for
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buildings and impacted the final development plan. (100 less apartments were agreed upon to keep the new buildings lower) Development schedule: Section 18 Federal Disposition process to allow a private developer to develop on NYCHA property, and a ULURP and Environmental review. o NYCHA would like to close on the project and begin construction in 2018.
Resident Concerns: Charlene Nimmons (with other residents in agreement) refuted the stated process. She claimed that residents wanted an alternative to the development, but were forced to accept this process. o Suggested an alternative could be to invest in Public Housing in the same way that the city invests in Affordable Housing preservation. Claims that Wyckoff Gardens Leadership was not included in discussions. FAC (Fifth Avenue Committee) and FUREE were at the table, but they do not represent NYCHA tenant leadership. o This statement was later refuted and residents who felt there was proper representation. Concern was stated about $2-3Million raised a few years ago to improve the Community Room, and $400K for the Playgrounds, but the money has not been spent. Where did this money go? What’s to say the money from Next Gen will be used as it is supposed to be? How can residents feel confident that the money will go to Wyckoff Gardens? NYCHA responded that they are seeking other sources of funding, and they are also fighting to keep the budget that they have, given serious budget cuts that HUD may be making. Federal budget is looking to cut funding by 2/3, which is a tremendous reduction.
Currently NYCHA gets funding from the state, city, federal, plus FEMA disaster recovery. There is $1Billion in the budget for roofs and $500K for façade repairs. But that is simply not enough money to do all the repairs needed across the portfolio ($17 B repair deficit) without generating new sources of funding through Next Gen. Roofs were done. Community Process: FAC and FUREE representative said that have been trying to meet with everyone and engage all of the tenants; were on the Steering Committee (which does not exist anymore). A taskforce was created that included NYCHA Tenants Association, Wyckoff residents, and a Wyckoff Stakeholder Community group that included community members, elected, CB6. The Stakeholder Committee (taskforce?) has not convened for three months. The Development RFP went out to developers, responses have come back and NYCHA is reviewing them. NYCHA Legal Counsel has been directly in touch with the Stakeholder Legal Counsel Stakeholders will review the final selected proposal, but are not involved in the selection process. Joe Ann Brown (FAC, FUREE and CB6 and NYCHA resident). Question: Who will monitor the money that comes out of the development, and will NYCHA bring everyone together again to determine/see how the money will be spent. How will transparency occur? o NYCHA response: The decision on how the development fees are used will be decided in a participatory manner by the Stakeholder Committee. Residents will be involved. o How will that happen, and who gets to vote?
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o NYCHA receives the development proceeds o The Stakeholder (Steering?) committee will work with NYCHA to plan how to use the funds, and there will be constant reporting back on how the funds are spent. Questions:
What % of the development proceeds will go to Wyckoff Gardens and what will go to other NYCHA developments? Formula is being worked out, (starting at 50%) but some of the proceeds will definitely go to other developments. Can people see the environmental assessments: They are on NYCHA’s website. Does the NextGen funding take away from budgeted funds? No. There is $0 in the 5- year capital plan. How long is the lease on the property? 65-99 year ground lease. Paid up front.
ANHD: Industrial Jobs Coalition
Presenter: name?
Review of Urban Manufacturing, employment opportunities, wage differentials, job trends. CB manufacturing statistics: zoning (40% M-zoned), businesses (approx. 200), revenue
($930M)
Threats to manufacturing: encroachment of allowable non-M uses, in M and in MX zones. Questions: o What jobs currently benefit the neighborhood? What businesses want to grow here? o A lot of the manufacturing looks like “cute store ways” - different than previous “manufacturing” and these small businesses are not part of the neighborhood, nor do they hire from the neighborhood. No people of color in the “cute” manufacturing. o Are there any local hiring practices?
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