Just when we thought the fight was over, more efforts are being made to preserve the century-old Our Lady of Loreto church in Brownsville from its impending demolition.
It looks like the fight to preserve a Brooklyn church has come to an end: A turn-of-the-20th-century Catholic church in Brownsville, will be demolished, with low-income housing to rise in its place—and preservationists aren't happy.
Following a neighborhood rezoning that will bring 6,500 new apartments to East New York, the city is investing $17 million in a nearby part of the neighborhood in an effort to promote its manufacturing base.
Of the building’s 80 apartments, 40 one and two-bedroom units were awarded through an affordable housing lottery to families earning between $25,000 and $52,000 annually — half of those were reserved exclusively for Brownsville residents.
The first three phases of this project saw the creation of nearly 300 modular, affordable homes in East New York that were seen as a precursor for changes in the affordable housing industry, but plans for this latest phase are as yet unclear.
In an effort to keep his commitment of building tens of thousands of units of affordable housing, Mayor de Blasio plans to announce the creation of nearly 500 affordable housing units for low-income tenants in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
After clearing hurdles with City Planning and the City Council Land Use Committee, the plan to rezone 200 blocks of East New York has won the approval of the full City Council. The plan has now won all the approvals necessary to move forward.