Short-term vs. Long-term Affordability

The affordable units, of which 20 percent [about 18 units] will be permanently affordable, will be distributed to people earning between $23,000 to $105,000 per year.

Big change from 0% affordable, so kudos to Antonio for working that deal. But how long will the other 27 “affordable” units be affordable?

East Williamsburg, Queens

PS71

PS 71, East Williamsburg, L. I.
Photo: via ebay
Map

Last week, Gothamist had some fun with a Kalmon Dolgin real estate listing that purported to be in East Williamsburg when it was in fact in Ridgewood, Queens.

I’m sure Kalmon Dolgin was just fluffing their listing, as Gothamist said, but, there is a bit of historical accuracy to the moniker. Historically, there was a village just over the Queens border that was called East Williamsburg (Long Island!), as the above postcard will attest. This was completely distinct from the enlarged area of the town (and later city) of Williamsburg east of Union Avenue, which was annexed to the original town of Williamsburg (west of Union) in 1835.

How Will Developers Treat Historic Buildings in Bushwick and Ridgewood?

Nice to see that someone is thinking about historic buildings in Ridgewood and Bushwick.

There is a lot there, and although some of it is designated (mainly in Ridgewood) there is a lot that isn’t. As Wyckoff Heights notes, a lot of the neighborhood on the Brooklyn side is zoned R6, and lacks the contextual height limits of the R6B zone on the Queens side. The density differences between R6 and R6B are usually marginal, but the potential impact on a neighborhood of relatively uniform lower-height buildings can be huge. This issue was called out in a 2011 preservation plan that my students did for Bushwick Avenue. The studio focused on the westernmost end of Bushwick (primarily the avenue itself), but identified the disparity of existing building heights vs. allowed zoning as a looming problem [pdf]. To the west, Bed-Stuy has largely been “contextually” rezoned, as has Ridgewood. But the heart of Bushwick is ripe for pop-ups and finger buildings galore.