All politics are local was a favorite saying of legendary House Speaker Tip O’Neill, who knew where accountability as a politician began and often ended.
This same dynamic is playing out now in Sunnyside, where a non-profit developer has proposed a 10-story affordable housing project that is strongly opposed by the resident city councilman.
Sunnyside is in desperate need of middle-income housing in the midst of a real estate boom that has forced longtime renters to flee to more remote parts of the borough. Residents fret that they won’t have the resources to lease units in the proposed building called The Barnett because the rents are too high. And they fear tenants in the 209 new apartments will overrun the schools and worsen traffic.
Jimmy Van Bramer, the City Council’s Democratic majority leader, lives in the nearby Sunnyside Gardens historic district. A historic ally of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has made building reasonably priced homes for New Yorkers a top priority, Van Bramer is caught in a bind.
The Phipps House developers, who met with the editorial board of this paper, laid out what we thought was a solid plan for the building and the neighborhood with provisions for adequate parking and a restored streetscape. The developers said they would be willing to make realistic changes to their proposal based on residents’ demands.
As the project moved through the public review process, Borough President Melinda Katz said she would not approve the current plan unless the developers made the units more affordable for the surrounding area and lowered the height of the building, among other stipulations. The City Planning Commission greenlighted the rezoning for the building, however, and now the plan heads to the City Council, where Van Bramer has enormous influence over its future as the elected official for the district.
Sunnyside residents are overwhelmingly against the Phipps building for a litany of reasons. Van Bramer said the negative feedback from Sunnyside and Sunnyside Gardens people has eclipsed all other issues since he took office 6½ years ago.
While Sunnyside would benefit greatly from more affordable housing, Van Bramer has listened closely to his constituents for a year and vowed to block The Barnett. The mayor has turned up the heat on him to change course, but de Blasio’s promise of a “firm conversation” with Van Bramer has not materialized.
As for Van Bramer, he’s doing what he was elected to do—represent the will of the people who put him in office—even if this means a lost opportunity for his community.
