NEWS: Minerva safe at last?
This morning, Tuesday Sept. 12, in its last decision stemming from the South Park Slope/Greenwood Heights 2005 rezoning, New York’s Board of Standards and Appeals unanimously voted to NOT GRANT the BZY vesting application of the developer of 614 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, aka “The Minerva Building.”
After two re-openings of this case and four hearings (3/29, 4/25, 6/6, 8/15) over seven months, needless to say Aaron & I, along with our entire community, are relieved at its conclusion and thankful at its final outcome.
We anticipate applicant attorneys Peter Geis and Howard Hornstein of Cozen O’Connor will file an appeal with the NY State Supreme Court, as they have with 182 15th St. (developer Isaac Katan), the other property they represented that was also denied vesting rights by the BSA on July 25.
Should the Court uphold the ruling of the BSA, property owner/developer Chaim Nussenscweig will have to build under new R6B zoning, which mandates a maximum base height of 40 ft. at street wall, a 10 ft. setback from street wall for a final floor, a 50 ft. maximum building height and a Floor Area Ratio of 2.0. Architect Robert Scarano’s now-obsolete plans for the 100 x 100 ft. corner lot called for a 38-unit, 70 ft. high building with bulkheads that topped over 90 ft., a ground-floor “community facility” (no longer allowed higher FAR as under old R6 zoning), and a ringing total of 29,803 sq. ft of floor area, not including three levels of Scarano’s signature “mezzanines.”
The most recent 11/15/05 plans for the building also did not satisfactorily resolve the issue of whether or not the building would block the historic view from the statue of Minerva on Green-Wood’s Battle Hill to the Statue of Liberty in NY Harbor.
*Whew*
This future has been averted thanks to the tenacious efforts of many people, including the offices of Congressmember Nydia Velázquez, Assemblymember Jim Brennan, Councilmembers Sara Gonzalez, Bill de Blasio and Tony Avella; ex-Assemblymember Joe Ferris, Russ Wylie and the Committee to Save the Vista; Randy Peers, Jeremy Laufer, Joe Longobardi and all at Community Board 7; John Burns and the South Park Slope Community Group; all of the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights; and all others I’ve inadvertently not listed here.
We all came together and made a difference in our community that will impact the future (we hope). Seven properties appealed after our zoning was changed last November; two were denied vesting thanks in large part to our joining forces and telling our electeds and the BSA that we would not stand for continued irresponsible development. We thank the Chair and Commissioners of the BSA for listening to us and, as one of our group phrased it, “setting some standards for appeals.”
We’ll still say “Onward,” since there’s nowhere to go but on,
Mic Holwin–Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Hts.
[email protected]