Ariel Aufgang, the project’s architect, addressed the audience.
The March meeting of Community Board 5 erupted into a heated war of words over a city plan to permit row houses to be built in a portion of lower Ridgewood that has been restricted to industry.
The proposed plan would change the zoning of a portion of lower Ridgewood bordered by Flushing Avenue, Starr Street, Woodward Avenue and Onderdonk Avenue.
“Ridgewood deserves a modified proposal with binding commitments from the developer that mitigate actual impact and are responsive to Ridgewood’s needs,” said Bridgette Blood, an opponent of the change.
Blood, a 10-year resident of neighboring Bushwick, expressed concern regarding a luxury development in Ridgewood after witnessing the impact of similar projects on her neighborhood.
Steve Sinacori, a lawyer for Frank Curtin, the owner of the lot at 176 Woodward Ave., assured the audience that the benefits of the development outweigh any drawbacks. “It’s taking an underutilized site, that’s surrounded by residential use, and allowing it to be cleaned up, beautified and provide housing,” he said.
Currently, the 45,000 square foot empty lot Curtin owns is used for storing construction equipment and materials. The streets surrounding the lot, especially Starr Street, have had significant problems with garbage dumping and crime.
Photo: Aufgang Architects
The completed project would consist of three- and four-story sections, and would include 88 apartments, 118 car parking spaces, stores, about 1,000 to 1,500 square feet of open community space and a possible green roof and dog walk.
Ariel Aufgang, the project’s architect, said the rent would remain affordable. Prices would range “anywhere from $1,000 to $1,200 for a studio, $1,400 to $1,600 for a one-bedroom and $1,700 to $2,000 for a two-bedroom,” he said.
One lifelong Ridgewood resident supported Aufgang’s claims of affordability.
“Two bedrooms at $1,400 and three bedrooms at $2,000: If those are not affordable for this neighborhood, I don’t know what is,” said Craig Montalbano, of 584 Seneca Ave., “because you cannot find a two-bedroom for $1,400 anywhere in lower Ridgewood.”
Affordability however, was not the only concern of the project’s opponents.
“I agree the current land zoning is not perfect the way it is,” said Neil Myers, a member of Ridgewood Social, an online resource listing events and classified ads in the neighborhood, “but I think residential rezoning may not be beneficial to the neighborhood as a whole.”
He predicted a snowball effect. “You can’t have a luxury building on the edge of Flushing where all the manufacturing is. It’s going to upset that and it’s going to topple the industry there,” he added.
“We do think something needs to happen there, but we don’t think the building they want fits with Ridgewood’s needs,” said Sarah Feldman, a Ridgewood Social member, in an e-mail.
But for each opponent of the plan there was a proponent.
“It promises safety,” said Kweighbaye Kotee, CEO and Director of Programming at the Bushwick Film Festival. “I live on Starr Street and a lot of prostitution happens there and it’s kind of scary for a woman to walk up and down the street, especially at night.”
Kotee, a filmmaker, stressed the importance of the proposed open community space, which could be beneficial to artists like herself, as well as the promise of stores on Woodward Avenue which she called “dead” in terms of business.
The chairman of the Zoning and Land Use Review Committee, Walter Sanchez, said the committee will hold a meeting on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the board office and come back with a recommendation.
Chairperson Vincent Arcuri, Jr., said that the Zoning and Land Use Review Committee will most likely recommend approval of the zoning change.
Writing Ridgewood 