NYC Rejects Proposed Brooklyn Tower That Would Cast Shadow Over Botanic Garden
Image via Hill West Architects / City of New York
The New York City Planning Commission has nixed plans to build an apartment tower rising to as tall as 34 stories, citing concerns that it would have blocked the sunlight shining down on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Local news outlet THE CITY reports that, after a long shadow of doubt cast over the development’s destiny, the board came to a unanimous decision to cut it short.
This sees the end of developer Continuum Company’s rezoning proposals for 960 Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, in spite of attempts to shorten the building and minimize shadow.
“We’re elated by the decision,” said Adrian Benepe, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in a statement published by THE CITY. He stressed that zoning rules are put in place to satisfy an “overwhelming public good.” Sunlight, he said is “very important” especially for the “publicly owned oasis of plants and education.”
A diagram depicting how far the tower’s shadow can loom over surrounding infrastructure. Image via City of New York
On its website for the proposed 960 Franklin tower, the developer stressed that it would have created 789 affordable units for “individuals and families [who] are currently rent-burdened and potentially at risk of housing instability,” in accordance with the city’s zoning code mandating affordable housing in approved apartment projects.
“If approved, half of the [approximately] 1,600 units built on the site will be reserved for low to middle-income households—providing desperately needed permanent housing for the hard-working lower-and middle-income residents of Crown Heights and the greater NYC community,” said Continuum.
After the initial 34-story design was rejected, the firm returned with a 17-story version.
A rare decision to reject a developer’s rezoning application for a proposed tower near @BrooklynBotanic puts an end to the city’s land use review process. https://t.co/m70hWz5xzk
— THE CITY (@THECITYNY) September 23, 2021
The developer acknowledged that while “up to four hours of ‘traveling’ shadows” would be cast on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with the 34-story design, “a minimum of [approximately] 75% of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens would continue to receive uninterrupted sunlight throughout the day.”
“BUT, as shadows are not static and move from west to east throughout the day, it’s also true that the impact of the shadows has been grossly overstated,” the developer added.
Whether 17 or 34 stories, the project has been thrown out. In the week leading up to this final verdict, Continuum sued the City Planning Commission in the New York Supreme Court under the belief that its 17-story design was not adequately evaluated. The board’s commissioners suggested that the proposal had come too late, to which the developer argued that it had met the deadline.
Elizabeth Goldstein, president of landmark preservation nonprofit Municipal Art Society, told THE CITY that the building was doomed from the start, since “the first zoning resolution was around concerns for protecting light and air from big buildings.” She called it a “victory for everyone who calls Crown Heights home.”
[via SURFACE and THE CITY, images via City of New York]
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