Judge Halts Rezoning For Towers Over Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A controversial rezoning that would make way for two towers near the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens was halted this week thanks to a lawsuit from opponents to the project.

The New York State Supreme Court granted a temporary restraining order on the 960 Franklin Ave. rezoning — which was set to be certified on Monday — after a lawsuit claimed the city did not release required information about the project to the public, Movement to Protect the People and City Council candidate Michael Hollingsworth both announced.

The Franklin Avenue development has been criticized since it was announced last year given the shadow it would cast on the botanic gardens and its lack of affordable housing.

“This project is awful on so many levels," Hollingsworth, a main opponent of the project, said Thursday. "960 Franklin will continue the displacement of long-term Black residents, it will burden our outdated infrastructure, its so called affordable units will be unaffordable for existing residents, and it will destroy the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The fact that DCP and Continuum don’t want us to see their application tells me they know the project has no community support."

The lawsuit submitted by Hollingsworth, MTOPP and organization Flower Lovers Against Corruption contends the Department of city Planning did not publish a detailed project summary five days before the certification, as is required by a recent update to the City Charter.

They also claim that DCP refused to respond to Freedom of Information Law requests from residents and Community Board 9 about the project.

The restraining order will temporarily stop the certification of the rezoning, which is needed for it to start the city's land use review process.

Developers aim to rezone the property to allow for two 39-story, approximately 420-foot tall towers 150 feet away from the garden, city records show. They have said the buildings will bring 700 much-needed affordable housing units into Brooklyn, but activists have questioned for whom the proposed units would be affordable.

City Planning has denied the lawsuit's allegations and said they plan to defend against the claims, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The developers, Continuum Company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Patch.