Dozens of local residents crowded into the back room of The Commons Cafe in Boerum Hill last night to hear the debate between political upstart Victoria Cambranes and City Councilman Stephen Levin.
Levin represent City Council District 33 which includes Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Fulton Ferry, Greenpoint, Vinegar Hill and Williamsburg.
Cambranes, running on the Progress For All party line, is a first time political candidate and Levin’s only challenger going into the General Election on Nov. 7. The two dueled over the rate of real estate development across district 33, specifically the increased amounts of developments popping up in the community through the selling of public lands. .
Levin was first questioned over 80 Flatbush, an enormous mixed-use development project at the confluence of Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn that includes two skyscraper towers, one 38-story, 480-foot tower and a 74-story, 920-foot tower. The project will be built over two phases, the first phase will include a 38-story, 480-foot residential building with two schools and the second phase will include a 74-story, 920-foot tower with 200 below-market rate apartments and office space. The plan is expected to be complete by 2025.
The controversial development has many local residents worried about the scale of the project that is going to sit next to low-rise townhouses and possibly compromise the historical character of area.
According to Levin, the project met a need for the Khalil Gibran International Academy, that has a struggling infrastructure and needed millions in capital funding for building improvements.
“While there are brownstones across the street on State Street, at the same time you have a school there right now in a building that is not an appropriate building for a high school. It wasn’t an appropriate building for a high school six, seven, eight years ago and it’s not an appropriate building now because it’s an 120-year-old building,” said Levin.
Cambranes countered Levin’s argument by claiming that the needed building improvements to the Khalil Gibran Academy could have been made without a sale.
“80 Flatbush is going to be two skyscrapers that go way above the height limit.On top of that, the conditions in the school were not failing, were not falling apart. And I believe that the baiting of schools to fall apart so bad to allow a developer to come in and save the day is the wrong way to go about selling our public assets. There is absolutely no need to build a skyscraper to allow Alloy [Development] to promote itself as the biggest builder in Brooklyn,” said Cambranes.
Levin has been at the middle of several controversial city-land sales, most recently the Pfizer Site redevelopment project and the Brooklyn Heights Library sale.
Brooklyn Heights Library was sold early last year for $52 million to developer Hudson Companies. The building located at 280 Cadman Plaza West will become a 36-story luxury condo that will still have space for a library, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education center, retail and parking.
“One of the policies that has been left over since the Bloomberg era, that is being pursued today is the selling of public libraries for millionaire towers for people to live. Public land is being basically given away for reduced rates and then building smaller libraries with reduced capacities, that is a huge issue in this district” said Moderator Mitchel Cohen.
Levin explained that the sale of the library was due to a $300 million capital needs request that the entire Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) system was looking to fulfill. Levin decided to approve the project because of it’s funding potential for the entire BPL system.
“I was not thrilled to have to look at this proposal and having to approve it but I thought it was the responsible thing to do for the entire borough of Brooklyn to approve this project because of the needs throughout the system,” said Levin.
Levin went on to note that the sale will increase in the library space in “usable footage” from 27,000-square feet to 31,500-square feet and produced $40 million in funds for improvements across BPL libraries from Sunset Park all the way to Canarsie.
Cambranes was quick to question Levin’s reasoning, claiming Levin went against his own constituents in the sale in favor of big developer money.
“Again it’s another public asset being sold for pennies on the dollar to the great detriment of the community. The community needs these libraries at a time when New York City is not short on money and residents coming into the borough is at an all-time high and growing exponentially every year. We need these spaces, we want our kids to be in a library reading a book not on the street, kids need a place to go,” countered Cambranes.
The two also broke down the potential of the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) on small business and housing along the route. The BQX is a streetcar project that will start in Sunset Park and will run through Gowanus, Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, The Navy Yard, Williamsburg, Greenpoint before heading to Long Island City and ending in Astoria. The 16-mile route along the East River waterfront corridor is planned to run 24-hours-a-day with five-minute intervals at peak hours with stops a half-mile apart.
Levin supports the idea of the alternative above ground trolley system, claiming that it will add an extra layer of transportation to neighborhood like Red Hook lacking in transportation accessibility.
“Honestly, I don’t think that our transportation links are working all that well. I’m not necessarily opposed to the BQX. Right now, it is not easy to get from Greenpoint to Downtown Brooklyn. There are not several transport links to Red Hook and the people living in the Red Hook Houses,” said Levin.
Cambranes claimed the project is a developer darling, specifically for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, who has been reaping donations from several developers who are pushing for the project’s approval.
“The fact that the board that wants to push through this project is actually donating to de Blasio’s campaign, it’s about 8 developers that want to do this project, it’s in a place that doesn’t lack for transport links, you have to question the motivation. I don’t think there is a need, I think there are amazing transport links that we can reinforce,” said Cambranes.
Cambranes pushed the idea of reinforcing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), even hinting at improvements to the infamous G line that is the only interborough subway line and increased bus services.
Levin and Cambranes will face off in the general election next Monday Nov. 7.
“I think that when it comes down to commercial interest a lot of the political machine is beholden to the real estate industry and it’s billionaire developers and that’s just a fact,” said Cambranes.
