Get Informed + Get Involved! Eds and Meds | Hospital Rezoning

Thanks to the 2000+ of you who signed the petition!

UPDATE: The Eds and Meds Planning Framework will not be published! 

The Eds and Meds Planning Framework will not be presented to the City Planning Commission on Monday March 27 and will not be published on their website.

Council Member Crystal Hudson agreed with us and all of you that the community must be engaged before any planning document is released. Thanks to Crystal for her leadership in advocating that the voices of the Fort Greene community be heard!

We look forward to a community-led process going forward.

What will happen next?

We await news of the selection of a developer by The Brooklyn Hospital Center. 

In the meantime, the Conservancy plans to participate in Council Member Hudson’s new initiative in collaboration with Hester Street, where they will lead the development of a new approach to land use decision-making in our communities. The process will help ensure that local priorities are integrated in the land use process in District 35––from start to finish. We encourage you to take the short survey her office recently shared and join the Public Meeting on D35 Land Use on April 1, 1-3pm (location TBA).

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What is happening?

Brooklyn City Planning is developing the Eds and Meds Planning Framework to inform planning and interagency coordination and shape potential developments on sites owned by The Brooklyn Hospital Center and Long Island University. 

The Brooklyn Hospital Center, adjacent to the park, is in the final stages of selecting a developer to partner with them in rezoning their property to create a number of tall buildings.

In this most recent Eds and Meds Planning Framework presentation, our remarks begin shortly after 1:00:02 with public comments following, ending at 1:36:20. If you want to see the Eds and Meds presentation and the CB2 member comments before the public Q&A that begins on 4:10 and then 38:56.

What can I do to help?

SIGN [THIS] petition to demand community input! (*be sure to verify your e-mail so your signature counts!)

SIGN UP [HERE] to stay in the loop and continue the conversation

SHARE [THIS] information with your friends and neighbors

What is the Conservancy’s position?

We are opposed to the Eds and Meds Planning Framework that City Planning is in the process of creating. We commend their proactive coordination with City agencies and their recognition that expansion of these two institutions should be aligned, but we think the process and framework are insufficient:

The process is not transparent enough and has no requirements for community engagement and participation; unlike a “framework,” which has no formal requirements, a City-led rezoning process would at least require engagement with the broader community, especially the residents of Ingersoll, Whitman, and Farragut Houses, which account for nearly half the population of Fort Greene

The framework presumes the rezoning and development of The Brooklyn Hospital Center and Long Island University campuses; the rezoning of these sites is not inevitable 

The recommendations prematurely offer public/community benefits and provide no enforcement mechanisms; the Fort Greene community should get answers to its questions on the developments first, and if open to negotiation, then lead that effort; any  community benefits should have specific timelines and metrics

We respectfully request that City Planning stop work on the framework and, instead, determine–in coordination with our local elected officials and the full Community Board 2 (not just the Executive and Land Use Committees)–whether a City-led rezoning process is more appropriate for these development proposals. 

The Conservancy plans to strongly oppose any future rezoning and development of The Brooklyn Hospital Center that would cause irreparable harm to the park and community. We are deeply concerned about the impact of potential development plans adjacent to or in close proximity to Fort Greene Park. Towers creating additional shade across the park would threaten its trees, landscape, and wildlife, affecting the health of the community and further harming people living in the NYS-recognized environmental justice area north of the park. New market-rate residential units–in the thousands–would exacerbate deficiencies in green space in the area and amplify disparities in housing and income within Fort Greene.

Why is the Conservancy opposing an important neighborhood institution?

We have great respect for The Brooklyn Hospital Center and the work of its doctors, nurses and staff. Their work has been critical to the community, since their founding in 1845 to today. Their staff was and continues to be essential in the fight against COVID-19. We celebrated their staff as Community Heroes in 2021 because they are. We are not opposing the hospital, only their decision to proceed in developing and rezoning their property in a way that could negatively impact the park and community.

What questions still need to be answered? 

Questions need to be answered so the community can determine whether the detrimental effects of the developments are worth the benefits it could gain. These include, but are not limited to:

What is the planned massing for the development project? The community needs to see how the placement and height of the towers shades the park.

How many units of housing are being proposed? Are the developers promising to provide additional green space in the community given the number of units they would add? Open space is not the same as green space, which people and their pets gravitate toward using.

What percentage of the units would be affordable? Much of Downtown Brooklyn was built up without mandatory inclusionary housing. Do we need to correct this imbalance?

What level of housing affordability do people in the community need? “Affordable housing” as defined by the Area Median Income (AMI), is not necessarily the same thing as low-income housing.

What type of housing units do people in the community need? If the community wants to prioritize keeping longtime, low-income families in the neighborhood then we might need fewer studios and one-bedrooms and more family-sized units. 

What other sites and City/State initiatives might provide opportunities to achieve needed low-income and/or affordable housing in the area? Due diligence is warranted to avoid unnecessary harm to Fort Greene Park.

Would the hospital stay on-site, offer all current services, and serve, at a minimum, the same number of people and demographics? The hospital plays an important role in addressing health inequities in the neighborhood. Any change in location, capacity or services could negatively impact the community.