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TESTIMONY

Joe Enright from the Community Association of West Midwood on specific concerns about City of Yes for Housing Opportunity in Victorian Flatbush

10:06:01

·

3 min

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Joe Enright, representing the Community Association of West Midwood, expresses mixed sentiments about the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative. While acknowledging support for many proposals, he highlights specific concerns for the Victorian Flatbush area, particularly regarding potential changes to Glenwood Road and the impact on the neighborhood's character.

  • Raises concerns about the possibility of multiple dwellings being built on Glenwood Road, which is considered the heart of the community
  • Points out potential issues with converting about 300 garages in Victorian Flatbush into living spaces, due to their proximity to property lines
  • Expresses neighborhood apprehension about the allowance of 25-foot structures in backyards and the increase of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) from 0.6 to 1.0
  • Not everyone in Victorian Flatbush is opposed to City of Yes
  • Concern about potential multiple dwellings on Glenwood Road, which is the center of the neighborhood
  • Worry about 300 garages in Victorian Flatbush being converted into living spaces
  • Opposition to allowing 25-foot structures in backyards
  • Concern about increasing FAR from 0.6 to 1.0, leading to overbuilding
  • Acknowledges some proposals in City of Yes are supported by residents in the area

[EXPERIMENTAL]

Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?

  • ADU
  • Transit-Oriented Development

The following are AI-extracted quotes and reasoning about which elements of the proposal were discussed in this testimony.

This is a quick, close approximation. Occasionally, the connection between a testimony's transcript and specific elements of City Planning's proposal is tenuous.

Read about this AI-generated analysis here.

ADU

"Victorian Flatbush has about 300 garages that are flushed on the property line of neighbors. And if they start turning into, you know, I don't know, Johnny being banished to the garage to play his drums all day. I think that's going to be a problem."

This quote indicates that the speaker is discussing the potential conversion of garages into living spaces, which is a key aspect of the Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) proposal. The speaker expresses concern about the impact of such conversions on neighbors.

"Also, the ability to build a twenty five foot structure in the back yard is something that neighbors don't look forward to having to experience."

This quote directly relates to the ADU proposal, as it mentions the possibility of building structures in backyards, which is a common form of ADU (backyard cottages). The speaker is expressing concerns about the impact of such structures on neighboring properties.

Transit-Oriented Development

"The center of our neighborhood is going with road. It extends the 4 Blocks from the Q Train to Kony Island Avenue. And it there are about 30 there are exactly 30 houses, 15 on each side, also an an historic church. All those houses are built in 1905. They're beautiful houses. They're mostly 5000 square feet lots. And About 20 of them would be subject to building multiple dwellings there."

This quote discusses the potential for building multiple dwellings near the Q Train, which aligns with the Transit-Oriented Development proposal. The speaker is expressing concern about the impact of such development on the historic character of the neighborhood.


About this analysis:

This analysis is done by AI that reasons whether or not a quote from the testimony discusses a particular element of the proposal.

All the prompts and data are open and available on Github.

You can search for testimonies that mentioned a specific element in the table on the main meeting page.

When an element is explicitly stated in the testimony (e.g. "Universal Affordability Preference" or "UAP"), the analysis is accurate.

But the connection between a quote from the testimony and an element of the proposal is sometimes implicit.

In these cases, the AI might eagerly label a testimony as discussing a proposal when the connection is tenuous, or it might omit it entirely.

↗ Why are there transcription and diarization errors?
Joe Enright
10:06:01
Thank you.
10:06:01
I think you just saved my marriage because my wife is watching on livestream.
10:06:07
So she knows I'm not out with my drinking buddies.
Dan Garodnick
10:06:11
Happy happy to help.
10:06:12
Okay.
Joe Enright
10:06:13
I don't think I need these anymore.
10:06:16
So, yeah, so I grew up on Flapish Avenue in Flapish Brooklyn.
10:06:21
And back in the in the wild 1980s, we spent together a lot of money from some shady characters, bought a house in West Midwood, which is in Detroit, Flatbush.
10:06:34
This was back when Brooklyn was in cool.
10:06:39
The neighborhood was was kind of iffy docked in, but but it's turned out pretty good.
10:06:47
And so I've been asked by the Community Association, West Midwood, to speak on their behalf, God God help them.
10:06:58
The major thing I want to get across here is that not everybody in Brooklyn is opposed to the city of yes or I'm sorry, in Victorian Flatbush is opposed to the city of yes.
10:07:10
There are many proposals in it that that are supported by residents of my area.
10:07:19
The major problem is, let me explain this.
10:07:21
We're at the southern tip of the Victorian Flatbush area, so to the boot.
10:07:27
And the center of our neighborhood is going with road.
10:07:30
It extends the 4 Blocks from the Q Train to Kony Island Avenue.
10:07:35
And it there are about 30 there are exactly 30 houses, 15 on each side, also an an historic church.
10:07:45
All those houses are built in 1905.
10:07:49
They're beautiful houses.
10:07:50
They're mostly 5000 square feet lots.
10:07:57
And About 20 of them would be subject to building multiple dwellings there.
10:08:05
And I think that's what the neighborhood is really afraid of.
10:08:08
That's the heart of the community.
10:08:10
That's where the food pantry is.
10:08:12
That's where the Halloween parades are.
10:08:14
That's where the block parties are.
10:08:17
So that's the major objection in the neighbor.
10:08:22
The other thing is Victorian Flatbush has about 300 garages that are flushed on the property line of neighbors.
10:08:31
And if they start turning into, you know, I don't know, Johnny being banished to the garage to play his drums all day.
10:08:43
I think that's going to be a problem.
10:08:46
Also, the ability to build a twenty five foot structure in the back yard is something that neighbors don't look forward to having to experience.
10:08:57
I think that about sums up also the other thing is the increase of the SAR from 6 slides to 1.0.
10:09:10
A lot of people are afraid that neighbors are just going to overbuild their houses.
10:09:14
Time.
10:09:15
So that's it.
10:09:16
Thank you so much.

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