In "50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn," proposals include permit parking; Atlantic Ave. upgrade; housing lottery pre-qualification

A recent report (bottom) from the Center for an Urban Future and Brooklyn Org (the borough’s community-led philanthropic platform and its largest racial justice grantmaker, formerly the Brooklyn Community Foundaiton), 50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn, has a few ideas that might be indirectly associated with Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, so it's worth a look.

From the intro:

Despite all the progress, Brooklyn has significant work to do to ensure all of its residents can fully participate in the borough’s growing prosperity—or even remain in a borough where rents are rising much faster than most incomes. Brooklyn is now among the nation’s top 10 counties with the greatest income disparities, and the borough’s racial wealth gap has only widened in recent years. The borough is home to a growing number of millionaires, but also more than 500,000 residents living below the poverty line—a sum larger than the total population of Atlanta. These challenges are compounded by persistent gaps in educational attainment that point to underlying inequalities...

Once known for its high levels of Black homeownership, Brooklyn now has the highest home foreclosure rate in the city, and large numbers of low- and moderate-income residents have exited the borough for more affordable locales. Indeed, an alarming number of Brooklynites face grave affordability challenges, as well as gaps in access to health care, education, open space, technology, and financial services. And despite Brooklyn’s depth of talent, too few residents are accessing the well-paying jobs being created in the borough and beyond.

Some excerpts, and comments, below.

1. Reimagine the brownstone to help address Brooklyn’s housing crisis

Jonathan Marvel, Founding Principal, Marvel
City leaders should use a modernized version of the brownstone to create higher-capacity, neighborhood-oriented residential buildings across Brooklyn. While historic brownstones often accommodate one to three families, a brownstone for today’s tight housing market should house at least five to eight families. These new brownstones would also incorporate design features to maintain a human-scale streetscape, such as a setback at the 5th or 6th floors, and new sustainable technologies.

One reason Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park seemed so dramatic was the contrast with the rowhouse scales nearby, and the increasing cost of moving into such blocks. If approved, this would add density to such blocks in Park Slope and Prospect Heights. Of course, politically, it would be a challenge.

4. Leverage major transportation projects planned for Brooklyn to strengthen low-income communities and prevent displacement

Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director, Fifth Avenue Committee

Brooklyn’s transportation infrastructure is usually a source of deep frustration. But thanks to major new transportation investments coming to the borough, there is now a once in a generation opportunity to leverage the borough’s transportation as a resource—not just for improving commutes, but for strengthening Brooklyn’s low- and moderate-income communities. This will require local leaders and elected officials to get ahead of large-scale construction projects like the Interborough Express and BQE Cantilever and build equity into the process.

For example, local leaders should push for the Interborough Express, a transit project that will connect underserved communities from Sunset Park to Jamaica, to protect communities along the route from property speculation and displacement. They can do so by embracing land banking, where the state would purchase hundreds of sites adjacent to the route and use them for affordable housing, schools, parks, and other community facilities. 

There is similar potential to think big about plans to fix the crumbling BQE Cantilever.... With all zero emission vehicles, officials should build affordable housing on top of Sunset Park’s massive Jackie Gleason Depot and other depots across the borough.

These are all ways to add space for higher-density development. The key is getting ahead of the market, which public agencies have not previously done.

5. Turn empty storefronts into new public marketplaces for Brooklyn’s micro-businesses

Gregg Bishop, Executive Director, Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund 

...Borough leaders should work with the city’s Department of Small Business Services and philanthropic foundations to set up three new public marketplaces across Brooklyn that specifically cater to small-scale entrepreneurs selling products other than food. While there are currently a handful of markets that mainly cater to food vendors, similar spaces are needed for vendors selling health care and beauty products, clothing, crafts, knick-knacks, and other merchandise—and, perhaps, even for a hair salon with a single chair.

Bishop was previously the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. It's not implausible that the Social Justice Fund also could involved in this.

6. Revamp the affordable housing lottery to help long-time Brooklyn residents stay in their neighborhoods and build a larger constituency supporting new affordable housing developments

Vivian Liao, Principal and Co-Founder, Totem

...The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) should change the housing lottery to pre-qualify people even before an available project exists in their neighborhood, instead of the current system, which happens after the city approves a rezoning through ULURP.

In addition, city and state lawmakers should help pre-qualify more people by funding monthly hands-on workshops in partnership with local housing administrators to coach people through the Housing Connect application. 

Given that the lottery units are often filled way after the market-rate units start seeing move-ins, it makes sense to start the process sooner. But that doesn't address the actual level of affordability.

11. Establish a residential parking permit program to ensure Brooklyn communities aren’t negatively impacted from congestion pricing— with proceeds funding parks

Matt Harrigan, Co-Founder and CEO, Company Ventures

The imminent launch of congestion pricing will be a huge net positive for the city. But to ensure it also brings benefits—while limiting problems—to Brooklyn (and other boroughs), city leaders should roll out a complementary initiative to reform parking. Without this step, many Brooklyn communities will likely see significant new traffic from drivers looking to avoid the congestion charge and park for free in neighborhoods with a short subway ride to Manhattan (where it’s already hard enough to find parking). To prevent this, city leaders should adopt a residential parking permit system like the one used in Washington, D.C. NYC DOT would establish residential parking zones. Car owners with proof of residency would pay a reasonable fee for a permit—perhaps $100 a month or possibly calibrated by income—while non-residents could park in these zones only by paying an hourly rate via the ParkNYC app. 

Yes, it's worth noting that areas in and around Downtown Brooklyn will get drivers looking for free parking. A push for permit parking in the blocks around the Barclays Center was previously shot down. But if this were implemented because of congestion pricing, it certainly would affect the arena.

26. Educate and empower Brooklyn residents to have a greater say in community decisions that could accelerate gentrification

Oma Holloway, COO, Bridge Street Development Corp. 

....There is a keen need for a program that would explain the fundamentals of city government. Brooklyn President Reynoso should work with the Civic Engagement Commission to ramp up its efforts to teach residents how to navigate New York City’s complex system of government through a borough-wide civic literacy campaign. This campaign would cover the various agencies that comprise city government, how to attend and participate in the public hearing process, and more. In doing so, Borough President Reynoso would be instrumental in empowering residents at risk of being victims of gentrification and ultimately create a borough that is more democratic.

There's also a keen need to fund and extend journalism to report on all those community decisions.

44. Create regular express subway service to Coney Island

Daniel Murphy, Executive Director, Alliance for Coney Island

Coney Island is arguably Brooklyn’s most well-known and most important entertainment destination, attracting tourists and New Yorkers alike to its amusements, boardwalk, beaches, and baseball games. It employs thousands of borough residents and sustains numerous local businesses. But there is still so much untapped opportunity. The greatest challenge is getting tourists from Manhattan—and residents living outside of Brooklyn—to make the journey out to the attractions. A subway ride from Times Square to Coney typically takes more than an hour on weekends, stopping at 23 stations even on the Q, which runs express in Manhattan. To address this challenge and fully harness Coney Island’s enormous potential as an economic engine, a premier tourist destination, and a local job generator, Borough President Reynoso and other Brooklyn leaders should urge the MTA to implement regular express subway service, similar to how the 7 line makes express stops to Queens’ Citi Field. Consistent express service would make the ride significantly quicker and more convenient. Doing this would not require a new line, but rather an expansion of the D line that already sends passengers to Stillwell Avenue. A true express train would spark a major increase in visitors to Coney Island, foster economic growth in the surrounding area, and contribute to a more prosperous Brooklyn.

Some may remember that Coney was once proposed as a location for a sports facility, including an arena. Sure, Downtown Brooklyn/Prospect Heights is much closer to Manhattan and people--especially those Wall Street high-rollers--going to games after work. But an express subway to Coney might have given the Coney arena idea more of a fighting chance.

47. Redesign Atlantic Avenue to become a safer place for the borough’s bikers and pedestrians

Kathy Park Price, Brooklyn Organizer, Transportation Alternatives

After Manhattan, Brooklyn is arguably the most walkable and bikeable borough in New York City. Yet Atlantic Avenue, which cuts through the heart of Brooklyn, is more than 80 percent filled by space for cars and trucks, leaving less than 20 percent for pedestrians, 0 percent for buses, and 0 percent for bicycles. With four to six lanes, it is essentially a highway in the middle of Brooklyn; and unsurprisingly, one of the most dangerous roadways in the borough. Naturally, it is not a place where cyclists and pedestrians feel safe. Instead of dividing communities, Atlantic Avenue has the potential to be a point of connection between neighborhoods along the thoroughfare from Flatbush to Nostrand Avenue....Borough President Reynoso should work to garner widespread support from the community and the city’s Department of Transportation, and call for the redesign of Atlantic by transforming two of the lanes to install a central bike highway and dedicate additional pedestrian walkways along the thoroughfare. By making the roadway friendlier to pedestrians, cyclists, and public buses, Atlantic Ave can help propel Brooklyn into a more interconnected, healthier future.

If so, this has to be coordinated with the increase in residential buildings, and construction, from spot rezonings and the pending Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Used Plan.