Alloy Development is proposing a major residential changes to Downtown Brooklyn that would add 1,502 apartments, a new public school and community facilities, according to NY Amsterdam News.
The project is drawing support from people who see opportunities for jobs and youth programs, while others fear rising housing costs and displacement in a historically working-class Black community.
The proposal calls for two towers, rising 73 and 63 stories, on Navy Street at the site of the former Boys & Girls Navy Yard Clubhouse at 240 Nassau St. and the neighboring P.S. 287 property at 46 Navy St.
Residents from Farragut, Ingersoll and Whitman Houses gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Oct. 14 for a public hearing under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which considers zoning and land-use changes.
“I was raised in this place, so from being a youth leader to getting my first job to the present day, this is a full circle moment. Alloy has allowed my company Bucketfam to use the facility for free,” said LaShawn Doyle, who attended and later worked at the Boys & Girls Navy Yard Clubhouse and is now CEO of the basketball-centric Bucketfam.
The development would include 300 permanently affordable apartments, including 95 for seniors from nearby New York City Housing Authority developments, along with a replacement prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, a community center, an African art museum, retail space and publicly accessible open space. Alloy estimates the project would provide $470 million in public benefits.
LaShawn Doyle, chief executive of the basketball-focused organization Bucketfam, has supported the project’s community center, which provides young people with a place to gather and participate in activities.
Opponents argue, however, that the towers would be out of scale with surrounding buildings and that market-rate apartments could accelerate gentrification. Residents are calling for lower building heights, more affordable housing and enforceable protections against construction-related dust, noise and traffic.
The project “should be half the proposed size and twice the amount of affordable housing,” said Sam Blackwell. “You bought a building. You didn’t buy our history; you didn’t buy the right to control our future.”
Alloy says the market-rate apartments are necessary to finance the promised public benefits. The developer has also said some of the 45 recommendations submitted by Community Board 2 would require cooperation from city agencies.
The new development would also require a special rezoning approval. As the review process continues, residents are seeking binding commitments that protect existing households and ensure the development serves the wider community.
