Sunday, May 12, 2013

Housing for Hasids only?

From the Daily News:

A new fight is erupting over a plan to develop private land at Williamsburg's Broadway Triangle, with critics citing two new buildings allegedly filled with Hasidic families.

Last year, a federal judge blocked the city's controversial plan to build housing on the 31-acre spot, finding it illegally favored Hasidim over blacks and Latinos.

But the injunction halting work at the site only appeared to apply to the 20% of city owned land in the area.

Meanwhile, private developers are building apartment buildings at the politically-charged site.

Two of those projects--70 Union Ave. and 246 Lynch St.--have been filled with Hasidim, critics charge.

"There were those who said that we were only speculating about what would happen with the city's rezoning but this is just proof that unless further action is taken this is going to happen over and over again," said Marty Needelman, a lawyer for the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/new-private-broadway-triangle-developments-unfairly-filled-hasidic-families-critics-charge-article-1.1337570#ixzz2SrIT08Ef

The group sent Hispanic and African American volunteers to apply for apartments at the two locations - and they were turned away, told there were no applications.


The group charges the Bloomberg administration’s controversial zoning plan has allowed the building owners to cater to the dramatically-expanding Hasidic community.

"We want a rezoning that serves the entire community and does not continue patterns of racial segregation that the city has promoted and allowed," Needelman said.

In 2009, the Bloomberg administration tapped Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg to build about 1,800 apartments on the mostly desolate stretch near the Bedford Stuyvesant border.

Those two nonprofits have close ties to scandal-scarred Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who made the Broadway Triangle a pet project.

Lopez has long maintained close ties to a large branch of the Williamsburg’s Hasidic community, a group that has staunchly supported him.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So the 39 Muslim only compounds are OK ?

Anonymous said...

Are you talking about the compounds in and around Hancock ,NY?

Anonymous said...

That is one of them. There are 38 others throughout the country.

Anonymous said...

The "schtettle" mentality still exists.

Tribes will be tribes...be they Jew, Muslim,
born again Christians, etc.

I don't want my tax money supporting isolationist groups who build villages for their own kind.

Anonymous said...

People keep screaming about affordable housing. How about build mixed income high rises there. The J,M,Z, and G are right there.