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Oct. 15, 2015 By Christian Murray
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Community Board 2 have scheduled a town hall meeting to discuss the controversial Phipps development plan that calls for the construction of a 220-unit, 10 story complex on Barnett Avenue between 50th and 52nd Streets.
The meeting has been scheduled for Monday, October 26, at 6:30 pm, at the Phipps Garden Community Center, located at 51-01 39th Avenue.
Phipps will present its plans to the public and will field questions.
Phipps put forward its initial proposal in June when it announced that it planned to transform a 215-space parking lot into a 10 story, 220-unit affordable housing complex. The organization said that the building would be set back from the road, include a pre-K and have as many as 199 parking spaces.
Existing lot
All units would be deemed “affordable.”
The site, which is currently zoned for manufacturing, needs to be rezoned before development can proceed. To start the process, the plans need to be certified by the Department of City Planning as part of the ULURP process.
The plans have yet to be certified, although Phipps said in June that it hoped to do so this fall.
Many residents have come out in opposition to the plan. They have expressed concerns about the scale of the development, as well as quality-of-life issues such as lost parking spaces, increased traffic and added pressure on the overall infrastructure.
Two petitions in opposition to the proposal have collectively generated more than 1,400 signatures.
“We are cosponsoring this town hall with Community Board 2 to ensure all local residents are aware of the development…,” Van Bramer said.
“All feedback is pivotal to this process and we welcome all residents to share their comments, questions and concerns about the Phipps Houses’ proposed project,” Van Bramer said.
“It is important that all residents know that this project is only at the proposal stage.”
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7 Comments
There is no way the building will have 199 parking spaces (unless thats a typo)…..It will burden an already overcrowded school zone and the ‘garden’ character of the neighborhood will be eroded.
They screwed up queens blvd so bad,why not screw this up too. Now they have traffic agents handing out pamphlets on the new traffic lanes. They tell you read this so you dont get a summons. This is a well devised trap
Phipps poor managers
You get what you pay for!!!!
Bedbugs must be cheap because they come free on 39th Avenue.
Phipps can explain why they have spent the past few decades stripping out community services here when they have been getting government money to offer them elsewhere.
Important that there is a big community turn out, otherwise the Phipps folks will argue that the “anti crowd” are a group of extremists who don’t reflect the interests of the neighborhood.