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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Theresa Westerdahl, Member of the Public on negative development impacts and affordability
3:13:40
·
3 min
Theresa Westerdahl, a Crown Heights resident and community board member, describes negative local impacts from extensive development, including threats to green space, infrastructure failures, and environmental concerns, arguing city agencies fail to protect residents. She defends community board deference and contends the crisis is one of affordability for existing residents facing displacement, not a lack of luxury units.
- Westerdahl details specific local problems: shading of school, water main break, street collapse, inadequate remediation.
- Argues residents have had to sue to protect green spaces.
- Believes CBs best understand local needs and should retain power.
- Frames the issue as lack of truly affordable housing and displacement, not overall supply.
Theresa Westerdahl
3:13:40
Hi.
3:13:41
Mhmm.
3:13:42
Yes.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
3:13:42
Can you press the button on the microphone?
Sharon Greenberger
3:13:44
You don't wanna turn that one on.
Theresa Westerdahl
3:13:46
Hi.
3:13:46
My name is, Theresa Westerdahl.
3:13:50
I live in, Crown Heights, near Ebbets Field Empire Boulevard, where we have an incredible amount of development.
3:14:02
My, I do serve on community board nine on the committee, by the way, but I'm here just to talk for myself.
3:14:09
But I I have been going to meetings and listening to my neighbors, for a decade that I've lived there.
3:14:19
But, with all of this development and all these buildings going up, I've, we have worked to protect our green spaces.
3:14:31
The city hasn't protected us.
3:14:32
The city council hasn't protected us.
3:14:37
Our community members have had to sue to protect our green spaces.
3:14:41
I find that appalling.
3:14:42
Right now, there's a development in process from an empire that's gonna probably shade if it goes through, it's gonna shade Jackie Robinson's school, not just the ball courts, the school, the garden, the playground.
3:14:58
It's the development that's happening there now, our city agencies are not looking out for us.
3:15:05
We've had I've been in touch with the city council and my community board because we've had a water main break, a street collapse.
3:15:13
We have the they did not do proper remediation for the development.
3:15:20
This is on the this is, development that's in the old Firestone Building on the corner of Sullivan, Bedford, and Empire Boulevard.
3:15:28
So we've we're dealing with a lot an environmental crisis.
3:15:32
A water main broke.
3:15:33
It took the city three weeks to fix it.
3:15:37
And this this is gonna continue.
3:15:39
We're not being protected.
3:15:40
And I don't think deference should go to city count from to Reynoso, our borough president, or the city.
3:15:47
I think it should be kept within the community boards because we're best able to identify what's happening in our board.
3:15:53
And we wanna protect our resources, and we wanna keep people safe that are already living there.
3:15:59
And not, you know, the amount of people that are having to leave my community is astounding.
3:16:05
They're not none of those places are for them.
3:16:07
It's all gonna be luxury housing.
3:16:09
There's very, very little affordable housing being built.
3:16:12
And it's it's sad and we are there's not really a housing crisis.
3:16:16
There's plenty of housing.
3:16:18
There's plenty of apartment buildings if you have 4 or $5,000.
3:16:22
Right?
3:16:23
There it's there.
3:16:24
There's thousands of units.
3:16:25
I've been looking for a friend.
3:16:26
Thousands of units are out there.
3:16:29
Over 5,000 in Brooklyn right now if you can pay that much, but nobody should have to pay that much.
3:16:38
I we need some help, and this isn't it.
3:16:41
Changing this isn't gonna help anybody.
3:16:42
It's gonna help tech bros.
3:16:45
You know?
3:16:45
Our city is being taken over by technology.