CROWN HEIGHTS — Rapid change in Crown Heights has been the big news in the neighborhood for years and, in 2016, the trend is set to continue.
Development of all kinds — especially at a local armory and on the area’s commercial strips — will be among the top stories in the area next year, as will the continued debate surrounding changes to land use rules, both at the community board level and in a citywide zoning amendment.
At the same time, a new plan for community policing will go into effect and a pedestrian safety proposal for a major Crown Heights corridor will get a second look from the area’s community board. Just outside the neighborhood, parents and elected officials will continue the fight to shape a new school being built in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park complex.
To help keep up with the changes, DNAinfo New York rounded up the stories in 2015 that mattered most in Crown Heights and will continue making headlines in 2016:
► How Will the Bedford-Union Armory be Repurposed, Exactly?
The New York City Economic Development Corporation recently chose two developers to redevelop the long-vacant Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights, turning part of the cavernous 1903 building into a recreation center and mixed-income rentals while creating 24 private condominiums within the building’s south side. The plan, however, is far from final; Community Board 9, the City Council, borough president and mayor must approve the project through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. And on the day of the project’s unveiling, area elected officials indicated the plan was not set in stone — as Assemblyman Walter Mosley put it, “we still have a long way to go” — and neighborhood residents circulated literature demanding that “the armory must not be sold.” Representatives of the developers are aiming to submit the plan for the ULURP process next September.
► New Community Policing Strategy Comes to the 77th Precinct
Beginning Jan. 1, a new patrol scheme will start in the 77th Precinct, bringing in a cadre of specially trained “neighborhood coordination officers” and new patrol cars to the area to promote community policing. Under the new plan, the precinct will be carved into four new 40- to 50-block sectors where two new NCOs (eight total) and two patrol cars will be assigned to patrol every day with the hope that those officers “become more familiar” with the neighborhood and its residents, said commanding officer Deputy Inspector Eddie Lott. The plan also stipulates that the NCOs will spend a third of their time not responding to 911 calls in order to concentrate on community issues and non-emergency conditions. The 77th Precinct plan is part of a larger citywide pilot program meant to improve relations between the NYPD and the community.
► Franklin Who? Nostrand Avenue Business Boom Roars On
In 2015, Nostrand Avenue saw a lot of new businesses move in, including a French brasserie, two bars and a coffee shop. In the next year, get ready for another wave of stores; already, a “steampunk”-themed cocktail bar, Sweet Brooklyn, is preparing to open in the former NoBar space and gourmet grocer Wholesome Foods plans to replace a 99-cent store at the corner of Atlantic Avenue. And a burgeoning art scene may be around the corner, too; the recently opened Nostrand Avenue art space happylucky no.1 plans to unveil its second exhibition, "Sediments of Erratic Impulse," in January.
► Drivers Challenge Neighborhood Pedestrian Safety Measures
As the mayor’s pedestrian safety initiative Vision Zero rolls on, traffic calming measures have been installed at Atlantic and Washington avenues and a “slow zone” has been implemented in Prospect Heights. But farther south in the neighborhood, a Department of Transportation proposal to make safer turns and create pedestrian plazas on Empire Boulevard have met with increased resistance from neighborhood drivers. Though Community Board 9’s transportation committee has approved the measure twice, the full board has yet to vote on the issue and will likely do so in the new year.
► Is a Middle School in the Cards for Atlantic Yards?
The developers of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project in Prospect Heights have already unveiled the design of a residential tower at 664 Pacific St., where a Department of Education school will be built. But the exact use of the school — specifically, whether or not the school will be a stand-alone middle school or, as the DOE had previously planned, a combined elementary and middle school — is still up for debate. A coalition of District 13 parents and elected officials have put pressure on the DOE to dedicate all 616 seats in the soon-to-be-built school to middle schoolers; no decision had been made by education officials as of last month.
► The Rezoning Debate Rolls On (and On)
For residents of southern Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, much of the first half of 2015 was spent hearing about a potential district rezoning proposed by Community Board 9 — and the months and months of fighting that went along with it. Though the board officially voted in May to request that the Department of City Planning start studying a possible rezoning, no such study has begun. Meanwhile, the mayor sought (and mostly failed to obtain) support from local community boards for a series of amendments to citywide land use rules. In 2016, look for more lengthy (and likely contentious) discussion of both land use proposals, which could impact the look and feel of Crown Heights for years to come.
