Frankenblock

My next door neighbor who has lived in Flatbush since the 1950’s has witnessed a lot of changes. He told me that in the 70’s when the city was dying, the municipal planners created incentives for development that are now coming back to bite the neighborhood. Prewar buildings are being torn down and replaced by buildings with just slightly higher unit capacity. I’m not normally a NIMBY gal, but, well, you should see my backyard and you’d pity the fool that has to look at my view.

Penn Station was demolished in 1963. We’re still making it easy to destroy history 56 years later.

They’re even uglier from the front

Those heroes in the middle didn’t sell out!

Prewars marked for extinction

The above photos are the back and front of a block facing New York Avenue. On that stretch, any prewars for sale are being marketed and priced for tear-down to replace with new, taller buildings. Even if you wanted to buy one for restoration or renovation, you can’t afford it. Every prewar you see in the shadows of that red-brick mutation will probably be gone in the next 15 years, if not sooner.

I believe in development. I believe that cities are vibrant, dynamic and ever-changing. I believe in density. But we’re not getting meaningful density from the examples above. We’re getting opportunistic developers making a quick buck at the expense of a healthy community.

A Better Way to Build

On this stretch of Martense, new construction replaces prewars but respects the neighborhood, follows the pattern of architecture on the block, while adding density.

A Better Place to Build

There are plenty of unused parking lots and vacant lots, that are prime for building. Why not put incentives to build on those areas and put some protections on prewar homes?