Brooklyn Leader Uses East NY House Of Worship To Promote His Affordable Housing Plan

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is pushing forward with his longterm plan, called then Faith-Based Development Initiative, to convert churches in Brooklyn into affordable housing units. This is the first Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) that has taken place for a property as part of Adams' plan, and he used the community's attention on the process to promote his affordable housing goals for the near future.

"This is the first opportunity I have had to use the ULURP process to advance my Faith-Based Development Initiative," Adams said in a statement. "And I am excited to do so in a community like Ocean Hill, which is ideal for partnering houses of worship with developers committed to affordable housing for Brooklynites in true need."

The project in Ocean Hill that Adams was referring to is a 10-story, 67-unit affordable housing development on property owned by the True Holy Church. Brisa Builders Corporation and Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, along with the church, are currently undergoing the ULURP process to rezone the property so the affordable housing development can be built.

The plans for the building filed in October outline the affordable housing development, as well as a new church at the building's base. Fifteen of the apartments will be reserved for formerly homeless veterans, and the others will be priced at 60 percent of the area median income or less.

Adams announced that $1 million of his 2017 fiscal budget will be going toward this borough-wide plan. He spent $500,000 on Calvary Intergenerational in Crown Heights for apartments meant for low-income families and seniors, and $500,000 to Ebenezer Plaza in Brownsville, which is meant to provide 481 units to low-income families.

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