Protect the Heights’ Historic Riverside Apartments
 

Please consider a donation to the Legal Fund established by the Riverside Tenants Association (RTA) to help them oppose their landlord’s plan for a 90-car underground commercial parking garage in the courtyard between their building at 24 Joralemon Street and the elevated BQE.
Riverside apartments

The Riverside Apartments were originally built in 1889-90 as a complex of eight buildings by noted philanthropist Alfred T. White. It represents one of the earliest examples of model housing for the working poor.  As a rent-controlled complex, it continues to house tenants of mixed-incomes.

When Robert Moses built the BQE, the western portion of the complex was destroyed.  Since 2008, the RTA has been fighting the plans of the Pinnacle Group for the garage whose construction would destroy what remains of the complex’s historic courtyard, remove hundred year old trees, and block critical fire and emergency egress for the tenants. 

The RTA is seeking to raise $19,000 on its GoFundMe site so that its attorneys can file an appeal with the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to stop the project.  The campaign will fund attorneys’ fees, filing costs, and fees for consulting architects.

The tenants have themselves contributed to their fund  but they need the community’s help.  Your contribution will help protect this historic Brooklyn Heights landmark which is home to its diverse mix of tenants.
 
Donate to Riverside Legal fund
 
Help Regulate Excess Building Height
Call to action

Bills pending in the State Legislature would use the state’s Multiple Dwelling Law to reign in the use by developers of “mechanical voids” that enable them to build super tall buildings.  Senate bill S3820 and Assembly bill A5026 relate to the definition of floor area and what is excluded in the measurement of floor area (see full text here). 

The voids are empty space, i.e., air, on floors that are otherwise primarily used for heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC). For example, Extell Development built a tower at 50 West 66th Street in Manhattan with 39 stories of apartments, but it is 775 ft. tall because of a 161 ft. high volume of air above a mechanical floor.  The use of mechanical voids lifts apartments above neighboring buildings and thus allows developers to sell their apartments for extraordinary prices.

If you want to see Bill A5026/S3820 brought to a vote by the close of the legislative session on Wednesday, June 19th, write or call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and urge him to bring this bill to a vote.  He can be reached at (518) 455-3791 or 718-654-6539 or by email at speaker@nyassembly.gov.

More information on this use of mechanical voids can be found in this CityLab article.  
 

Only with the strength and commitment of its members can the BHA be a strong advocate for the Brooklyn Heights community.
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Already a member? Please consider making a donation to our BQE Fund to help us fight the 6-lane Promenade Highway.
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Brooklyn Heights Association
55 Pierrepont St, Box 17D
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-858-9193  info@thebha.org

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