Brooklyn Politicians Clash Over Future of Bedford Union Armory

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — What to do with the city's giant, empty Bedford Union Armory building in Crown Heights? That question became a point of fierce contention this week between New York City Council Member Laurie Cumbo — who's currently in the process of hashing out a redevelopment plan for the Armory with the city's chosen developer, BFG Partners — and the four state and federal politicians whose districts also include the castle-like building at Bedford Avenue and Union Street.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Cumbo threw shade at those who "have called to 'kill the project' in the beginning of the negotiation stage."

Cumbo was referring at least in part to U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, State Senator Jesse Hamilton and State Assembly Members Walter T. Mosley and Diana Richardson, who joined forces in mid-October to demand the Bedford Union Armory be filled with no less than 100 percent affordable housing — specifically, 300 apartments at below-market rates.

"That is the only path I see for this project to move forward,” Hamilton said.

Cumbo has since fired back at their all-or-nothing attitude, saying — in so many words — that all redevelopment scenarios for the Armory must be examined, including some that do not include 100 percent affordable housing.

"My greatest fear," Cumbo wrote, "is that the Bedford Union Armory will remain abandoned for decades to come producing no affordable housing, no employment opportunities for our neighbors, or needed space for our local businesses and non-profits."

And on Wednesday, in a phone interview with Patch, the council member added: "We are at the beginning of the negotiation stage. Let's find out what all the possibilities are. That's all."

Richardson, the famously fiery New York State Assembly member representing Crown Heights, immediately swooped in with a comeback to the comeback, by way of a live Facebook video she recorded in front of the Bedford Union Armory construction site.

"We're not into statements," Richardson said in the video, which was viewed more than 1,500 times within its first few hours online. "We're into action."

"She's my council member, too, for my home," Richardson said of Cumbo. "All that has to be done here is for her to say, 'This is not good enough for us. Do better. Come back, do it again.' Then we could get into some real negotiations about how to make this project affordable and accessible to the community in which it resides."

Richardson added: "It's not personal. It is very much business. I am about the business of this community — and I am going to keep this fight going strong."

Cumbo dismissed Richardson's attack, saying she's just as invested as her peers holding state and federal office in "alleviating the pressures people are facing because of gentrification."

Weighing all possible futures for the Armory, such as being built into additional Medgar Evers College athletic facilities, or a community center, or offices for a local nonprofit org "providing critical resources" — and not solely becoming a 300-unit affordable-housing project — will ultimately help reduce the impact of gentrification on nearby residents, and could even help tame gun violence and gang activity in the area, Cumbo said.

"We want to see this in a holistic way," Cumbo said. She stressed the importance of going through with the complete negotiation process and not jumping to conclusions.

"My role is as a negotiator — to negotiate this process on behalf of the community and to be in all spaces to create the best possible outcome," she said.

As for the prospect of filling the Armory with 100 percent affordable housing units? That plan is still on the table, Cumbo said Wednesday.

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