After Contentious Meeting, C.B.2 Land Use Committee Defers Vote On Library Plan

By on June 19, 2015 11:46 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Development, Government, Real Estate

Because of a schedule conflict (a.k.a. having a day job) your correspondent arrived late for Wednesday evening’s public hearing before Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee. The photo shows what he found on arrival. The hearing concerned the proposed transfer of the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to a developer who would demolish the existing building and construct a 33 story residential and commercial building with a new library. Fortunately, the Eagle’s Mary Frost was on hand to provide this report.

Bottom line: after four and a half hours of contentious testimony, the Committee “could not reach an affirmative vote.” This doesn’t mean the project has been disapproved; some further action by the Committee will be taken. According to C.B.2 District Manager Robert Perris, it is not likely that there will be another public hearing. Following whatever action C.B.2 takes, the next stage will be consideration by the office of Borough President Eric Adams.

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  • Willow Street Watch

    All right we had the meeting, we exhaustedly presented the dozens of huge compelling reasons why this project is a really bad deal/monstro-
    Ity….The board, mostly to prevent a riot, deferred the vote.

    Now what?

    Well, the move now is for individual Heights advocates to reach out to
    Individual board members and present a case for some sanity in this matter….but Heights activists, at this point should ALSO be probing
    to see which board members may have been “reached” by those some-
    how in favor of the project. If “undue influence” is detected, then this is a matter to (very swiftly) bring to the attention of the DA and if at all poss-
    ible a U.S. attorney.

  • mlcraryville

    For a reasoned and reasonable response to the developer’s presentation see the Brooklyn Heights Association’s statement at its website:www.thebha.org/alerts/d9b9a504544ba8ac34061c0bd7535476/

  • Andrew Porter

    Just an experiment, WSW, who said:

    All right we had the meeting, we exhaustedly presented the dozens of huge compelling reasons why this project is a really bad deal/monstrosIty….The board, mostly to prevent a riot, deferred the vote.

    Now what?

    Well, the move now is for individual Heights advocates to reach out to Individual board members and present a case for some sanity in this matter….but Heights activists, at this point should ALSO be probing to see which board members may have been “reached” by those somehow in favor of the project. If “undue influence” is detected, then this is a matter to (very swiftly) bring to the attention of the DA and if at all possible a U.S. attorney.

  • Willow Street Watch

    OMMG, (the extra character is for merciful..) I actually have a supporter!
    And its amazing, a ceremony over substance type who managed to use MORE character space than my original…brilliant!

    Now let’s someone intelligent respond to the POINTS I made. Are any of you willing to do that? CAN any of you competently do that?

  • StudioBrooklyn

    None of us can even comprehend things on such an intelligent level. Unfortunately it seems it’s completely up to you and you alone to solve all the problems affecting our part of Brooklyn. We wish you the very best of luck. Please keep us posted on your progress.

  • Reggie

    The committee didn’t defer the vote. It voted several times and the motions failed to pass.

  • Reggie

    Is there a technical definition of “undue influence?”

  • Willow Street Watch

    The committee, tied vote, the it was said that they would try to reach a decisive vote at a forthcoming CLOSED session. They made it very clear that the public input period was over…or was it? Given the several highly advanced thinkers, of sterling character, who were often speaking over each other, and several spokesmen giving slightly different versions of what was to happen, many left with a less than fully clear idea of what
    exactly would follow.

    But the key thing is THE MOTION WAS NOT, AND HAS NOT BEEN DEFEATED. The Heights is still on serious danger and everyone needs to continue every effective action against this idea/scam/rip/project…

  • Willow Street Watch

    Yes, undue influence, in this context is any sought influence which is of an improper nature such as offering an immediate or subsequent reward, either in financial, goods or something the person to be influenced would find of value or attractive. Or it could take the form of a threatened action or a threat not perform some act or with old service.

    The form an undue influence can take are endless, but it comes down to some inducement to cause a responsible party to mis-
    perform their sworn cutie(s) in a manner of direction they would
    Not ordinarily were the presented influence was not present…

    I’m amazed I have to define to any adult New York’er what undue
    Inluence might be….

    But given the critical nature of the president making vote…and the amounts of hard cash involved, its VERY CRITICAL every Heights resident be ultra alert for any and all indications of fraud/corruption or undue influence in any form….šŸ˜ˆ

  • Reggie

    I am not a lawyer, so I don’t think it is a reasonable expectation that I would know the definition of “undue influence.” I think Mr. Porter and you are exhibiting signs of paranoia, but I’m not a psychologist either, so perhaps I am wrong.

  • Reggie

    I heard nothing about a closed session. Any subsequent meeting is subject to the same ‘sunshine law’ as the meeting on Wednesday.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Perhaps they misspoke, perhaps they meant that the session would be closed to public comment. With the board members speaking over each other/across one another or, slyly giving an incomplete
    picture of what the following process exactly should be, an exact
    Idea of how and where to final decision was hardly totally easy to determine by a first time observer. But the key element here is that
    concerned Heights residents should find out what the further process is and then rachet up their efforts to stop/reverse this push to ram/bum rush this approval through before it can properly, really
    at been investigated. We don’t even know the structural plans, so how can we even know the safety/integrity/fire resistance of what’s being proposed!!!