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A rendering of the Monitor Point development proposed for the Greenpoint waterfront. (FXCollaborative Architects)<\/p>\nCouncilmember Lincoln Restler opposed the Monitor Point project, which will build over 1,000 apartments\u00a0on an MTA lot on the Greenpoint waterfront, until just before it came to a vote, citing an increase in the percentage of affordable units.<\/p>\n
A rendering of the Monitor Point development proposed for the Greenpoint waterfront. (FXCollaborative Architects)<\/p>\n
A controversial project to build several large towers on the Brooklyn waterfront in Greenpoint earned the support of the local Councilmember, Lincoln Restler, Thursday.<\/p>\n
The developer, Gotham, committed to 662 affordable apartments in the 1,150-unit development after Restler drew a hard line on making the project majority affordable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Half of the affordable units will be \u201cdeeply affordable,\u201d according to Restler, with other units set-aside for seniors and supportive housing. Those will average to 50 percent of the area median income, affordable to a three-person household earning $76,350 a year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shortly after Restler testified that he\u2019d reached a deal with the developers, the City Council\u2019s zoning and land use committees advanced the project, clearing the path for its approval with a vote before the full City Council next week. The agreement also includes commitments from Gotham to maintain a waterfront park.<\/p>\n \u201cMonitor Point will add desperately needed deeply affordable housing to our community, providing some of our most vulnerable neighbors with stable, dignified homes, while improving critical public infrastructure and expanding public green space,\u201d said Restler in a statement.<\/p>\n The stretch of Williamsburg and Greenpoint has transformed dramatically in recent years, with large residential developments dotting the waterfront. Restler\u2019s district has seen some of the most development of the 59 City Council districts, and the fifth most new affordable housing.<\/p>\n Some community members were critical of the proposal, which they said would threaten green space in a flood zone.<\/p>\n \u201cNo amount of additional affordability changes the reality of where this project will be built,\u201d said Save the Inlet, a group fighting the project, in a statement.<\/p>\n But proponents said the plan, which redevelops an existing lot owned by the MTA, would create union jobs and deliver needed new homes during a housing shortage. <\/p>\n Restler had previously declined to support the project when it was 25 percent and then 40 percent affordable.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought this project was a total nonstarter\u2026 it\u2019s come a really long way,\u201d Restler testified at Thursday\u2019s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises hearing. \u201cI\u2019ve been clear over these five years that any development of this publicly owned land must be in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Restler was also a vocal critic of housing-related ballot measures passed by voters last year<\/a>, saying they would limit the local councilmember\u2019s ability to negotiate with developers. One of the measures created an avenue for the mayor, borough presidents, and Council speaker to overrule the City Council if it rejects certain affordable housing proposals.<\/p>\n Some pro-housing voices said the negotiations on Monitor Point showed the opposite: that councilmembers still have significant leverage in land use deals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is consistent with what you see from a process where there is still an outsized role for the local member, just not an absolute power for them to obstruct projects,\u201d said Howard Slatkin, president of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council.<\/p>\n Restler said that the backing of Speaker Julie Menin and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso helped him maintain negotiating leverage in this case.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s because, frankly, my position was reasonable, and it wasn\u2019t to kill the project, it was to say \u2018We\u2019re willing to get to yes, these are the terms,\u2019 and the borough president and the speaker agreed with my terms,\u201d said Restler.<\/p>\n Still, developers don\u2019t always hold up to their end of the bargain. Earlier this month, City Limits reported on proposals for two new buildings along Atlantic Avenue, where the developers earned the Council\u2019s approval in 2022 after pledging to make at least 35 percent of the apartments affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the buildings opened to renters this year, just a quarter of the apartments were income-restricted<\/a>, after the developers cited rising building costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else happened this week\u2014<\/p>\n ICYMI, from City Limits: <\/p>\n New York City\u2019s Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze the rent<\/a> for the city\u2019s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, helping Mayor Zohran Mamdani deliver on one of his key campaign promises. The board took the unprecedented step of freezing rents on both one- and two-year lease renewals, prompting celebration from tenants. <\/a><\/p>\n The revised Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, which now has a majority of sponsors in the City Council, aims to strengthen community land trusts and create more opportunities to place land under community control. But how does a land trust work, exactly? City Limits intern Casey Wetherbee explains<\/a>.<\/p>\n The city will launch a new call center for public housing tenants who need help with \u201ccritical repairs\u201d in their homes<\/a>, modeled after the existing Mold and Leaks Ombudsperson Call Center, which residents say has added an extra layer of accountability and coordination to NYCHA\u2019s slow, multi-part repair process.<\/p>\n ICYMI, from other local newsrooms: <\/p>\n Frank Carone, a longtime adviser to former Mayor Eric Adams, was indicted on federal bribery and money laundering charges, accused of using his position as chief of staff to secure a multi-million dollar city homeless shelter contract for a developer who paid him off, the New York Times reports<\/a>. <\/p>\n Mayor Mamdani is looking for companies to run his city-backed insurance program for\u00a0rent-stabilized buildings,<\/a> according to The City Reporter. The mayor first unveiled plans to launch a cheaper public option earlier this year, an effort to help property owners who are struggling amid rising costs.<\/p>\n Providers are still filing evictions against formerly homeless New Yorkers in supportive housing<\/a>, Gothamist reports\u2014even after the Mamdani administration asked organizations only to do so in extreme circumstances. <\/p>\n President Donald Trump refused to sign a much-anticipated bill that would make it easier to build new housing across the country, according to PBS<\/a>. <\/p>\n A growing number of serious housing code violations are going unaddressed for years, New York Focus reports<\/a>. <\/p>\n To reach the reporter behind this story, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. To reach the editor, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n