Build it: The Neighbors Strike Back

A few weeks back the Little Rus' team wrote a piece on the tremendous amount of new construction occurring in the area of Brighton Beach. Well, apparently we were not the only ones who noticed. Hot off the press from YourNabe.com is an article about the recent development boom in the area and the plethora of underlying issues. For the most part these new condo buildings are replacing single story homes with mid-rise towers from 7-12 stories high. As one can easily see from the "skyline" in Brighton this is a drastic change. The excerpt below displays the intensity of both sides of the debate:

"The verbal smackdown occurred between some residents who said the plan didn’t do enough to curb overdevelopment and others who feared their property values would decrease and said there should be no downzoning at all.

The battle took a heated turn when Brighton 8th Street resident Shimon Rinkovsky said the entire bungalow community should be destroyed and new buildings should be erected on the land.

Judd Fischler, a resident of Brighton 3rd Street, had enough and rushed to the front of Coney Island Hospital’s auditorium and demanded to respond to the comments immediately. He was held back by Community Board 13 District Manager Chuck Reichenthal before finally relenting and returning to his seat."

The revitalization taking place certainly has its pros and cons, however a larger concern should be affordability as the residents pointed out in the article. Given the fact that many of the families who reside in Brighton Beach are first generation immigrants and do not have very high incomes, the new construction could keep them from being able to afford to buy a home in this area.

The bottom line is, the community board has an opportunity to curb over-development by imposing some zoning restrictions that may very well save the neighborhood without crippling its re-development. If they fail to do so, the results may be "Williamsburg by the Sea" rather than Little Russia by the Sea. Lest not forget what happened the last time a bunch of Russians organized against the government (for those of you who don't know check your history books for 1917). These developers may have bitten off more than they can chew.