The
Red Hook StarªRevue
JULY 2015
FREE
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
WILL A NINE STORY NURSING HOME BECOME PIONEER WORKS’ NEW NEIGHBOR?
M
uch of Red Hook first learned of a plan to locate a large, for-profit nursing home facility behind Van Brunt Street, adjacent to Pioneer Works, at the monthly Red Hook Civic Association meeting on June 24. The property, which was purchased by the nursing home operator back in 2003, has been rented out on a monthto-month basis to an ironworker and bus operators, while the Oxford Nursing Home - currently located in Fort Greene - laid the groundwork for their move to Red Hook. The presentation, using power point slides, was made before a local crowd, many of whom expressed shock and surprise by the location of a medical facility in a flood plain - as well as by the enormity of the proposed complex consisting three connecting buildings rising 7, 8 and 9 stories, in an area zoned for four and five story buildings. Nora Martins, an earnest and practiced attorney with, began the presentation. She is with Davidoff, Hutcher and Citron, a law firm founded in 1975 that has become known as one of the top lobbying firms in NY State. David Mammina, the project’s architect, was the next presenter. Mammina ran his own firm for 27 years before being joining forces with H2M Architects and Engineers in 2013. With the larger firm out of Long Island, Mammina’s company has done multiple projects for the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizen Center, a nonprofit founded by former Kings County Democratic Leader and Assemblyman, Vito Lopez. Lopez preceded Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos in being ousted from office due to questionable practices. A 2010 NY Daily News article questioned Mammina’s connections with Lopez and the Senior Center. The Center is a much needed and loved community service, but has been tainted by corruption investigations involving Lopez, his staff, women, and money.
Nursing home a family business Braunstein bought land in Red Hook in 2003 with plans to relocate his Oxford Nursing home. As he explained, the current Oxford building at 144 South Oxford Street near the Barclay Center is obsolete. It was built as an Elks Club a hundred years ago, and is unsuitable for today’s medical needs. He explained that the Board of Health has only allowed him to remain operating
Red Hook Star-Revue
by George Fiala
because they knew he had plans for this new building. Barry Braunstein’s family has been in the nursing home business for multiple generations, operating facilities in the Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey. He owns the Bronx Laconia Nursing Home, the Brooklyn Oxford Nursing Home, and is listed as a Director of the Bedford Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.
Project delayed Zoning issues have delayed these plans, starting with the 2005 designation of much of Red Hook an IBZ zone. IBZ was developed by the Bloomberg administration as a zoning tool to protect industrial use. In 2012 the IBZ zones were given a second look and city agencies asked for local input. In Red Hook, a group of property owners - including Braunstein - petitioned to be removed from IBZ so that their own projects could blossom. The subsequent properties were removed from the IBZ in the fall of 2013, which returned a central swath of Red Hook to its previous zoning. Rezoning allowed Oxford to move forward. Their land is currently zoned M21, medium industrial use. They are currently requesting Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) to change the zoning to M-5/R7. This would allow them to build the proposed nine story nursing home, using a greater floor area ratio multiplier because it would qualify as a community facility. They are at the beginning stage of ULURP, with their proposal “certified” by the Department of City Planning; the application is complete, and ready for public review.
ULURP a multi-step process
An artist rendering of the proposed building showing the corner of Conover and King. Inset shows how it looks today. Pioneerworks is to the left.
that the presentation is informational only; there would be no voting on the plan that night. The voting will happen in September or October, he explained. At the Civic Association, much of audience’s concern was about traffic, park-
CB 6 brought out a more nuanced crowd, and while traffic and height were major concerns, the issue of ap(continued on page 5)
Dead Moon make rare appearance at Pioneer Works
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by Halley Bondy
efore June 20, if you found yourself in a crowd of about 1,000 tattooed people bobbing their heads to one of the most beloved underground punk bands of all time, you were probably in Williamsburg, not Red Hook.
The next step is Community Board 6 (CB 6) review. The application then goes to the Borough President, then City Planning, and finally, a full vote of the City Council. In many cases, the position of the local council member determines the success or failure of the application. The Mayor has the option of vetoing a ULURP decision, although that can be overridden with a twothirds vote of the Council.
On Saturday, Portland’s gritty rock trio Dead Moon changed all that.
On Thursday, June 27th, the CB 6 Landmarks/Land Use Committee met at the Miccio Center and heard the same presentation made the night before at the Civic Association. A presentation has also been made to Councilman Menchaca, who did not attend either meeting.
The show marked the second year of the concert series, which is a collaboration between Pioneer Works and the downtown Brooklyn arts center, ISSUE Project Room.
Committee Chair Bob Levine explained
ing, building in a flood plain, and the great bulk and height of the building.
Dead Moon, a DIY garage punk trio with a rabid cult following, kicked off this year’s epic weekly summer concert series at Pioneer Works. The concert -- which sold out in just three hours at about $25 a ticket -- drove music lovers from all over the country to eat, drink, and mosh on Imlay street and beyond.
Fans were certainly eager. Dead Moon has been accumulating a cult base since 1987 through a re-
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Bassist/Vocalist Toody and Guitarist/ Vocalist Fred Cole (both aged 66) have been fronting Dead Moon since 1987. This is their first time in Red Hook -- and this is their only New York City tour stop. They are celebrating their 48th anniversary this year. (photos by Tim Corbett)
markably DIY approach: they release records on their own label, they’ve never kowtowed to the mu(continued on page 7)
July 2015, Page 1