BRDC Wants to Put a 54 Foot Building on 98th Street in Bay Ridge. Here’s Their Neighbor’s Homes:
On October 28, 2020, the property known as St. John Church at 9818 Fort Hamilton Parkway, was sold for $2,500,000.
The Bay Ridge Community Development Center (BRCDC) purchased the building and renovated the inside.
In 2021, BRDC went to Community Board 10 and showed the design for a community center.
They said they were going to reach out to other non-profits to use the center. There was no mention of the building having a daycare center or swimming pool in the basement. This was the modest building they showed – this picture is currently on their Facebook page today:
In October 2023, Councilman Justin Brannan gave six million dollars to BRDC for renovations for a community center. Senator Andrew Gounardes also gave them money for the renovation.
This confused many Brooklynites because the building was used as a mosque during covid. The mosque rented space from BRDC. When the money was announced at a Community Board 10 meeting, I noted back then that no one clapped after tBrannan’s staffer made the announcement. Info:
https://shorturl.at/sO9sR
On May 27, 2026, Community Board 10 sent a letter announcing the rezoning meeting for Wednesday, June 3, 2027. What’s the rush?
Community Board 10 notified the community on social media on May 27th at 6:28 pm. See here: https://shorturl.at/1DWMK
We didn’t receive notice of the meeting. Our home is within five blocks of this development. The first time I saw Community Board 10’s notice on social media was on June 2nd and I shared it here as the development looked a lot larger than the original picture from years ago: https://shorturl.at/qC4kT
Community Board 10’s Meeting
Josephine, the manager of Community Board 10 said that some notices were not delivered. She and her staffer went to the homes near BRDC to tell the residents in the 10 blocks near BRDC about the meeting on June 3rd.
Josephine also said the applicant should have shared information about the meeting. The head of BRDC said they shared it on their socials. There is no mention of the meeting on their Facebook or Instagram accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/BayRidgeCommunityDevelopmentCenter
https://www.instagram.com/bayridgecommunity
Josephine shared that residents called the District Office and said that they had not heard about this project. Residents on the adjacent street did not know about June 3rd’s meeting. Why didn’t CB 10 postpone the meeting until everyone was notified.
June 15th is when the Community Board must give their vote in. IS THIS ANOTHER DONE DEAL? THIS IS A RESIDENTIAL AREA. A huge structure is going to deeply impact that area.
Next, the developer for Bay Ridge Community Development Center spoke about the project and asked that the property be rezoned from a R4B to a R6A. BRDC wants a 54 foot building at this location.
The developer claimed that Fort Hamilton Parkway was just like 4th Avenue and since it is 100 feet wide, BRDC deserves this rezoning.
There is no way that street is 100 feet wide!
How could the residential area of Fort Hamilton Parkway be compared the large commercial avenue a block away? I bet someone will measure the width of Fort Hamilton Parkway outside of BRDC today.
The representative for the organization spoke as if he was doing the community a favor. Rushing a rezoning in a residential area is not a favor!
The new building has a daycare center and a swimming pool in the basement. The developer spoke about how they added so much greenery outside the building:
BRDC’s executive director spoke. When she was asked how many people use BRDC, she inflated the numbers A LOT. She said that that there was 6000 – 8000 participants per month. Later, another member of BRDC explained that when someone picks up food from BRDC, if they have a family of five, then they count the five people!
BRDC executive director was asked why they chose this property for the center. She thought it was a racist question insteadf of understanding that the CB 10 member was asking because the existing zoning for this property is for a residential area.
I will return later today and share more about this meeting. There will be another meeting on June 8th at the Commmunity Board 10 District Office because many residents did not get to speak last night.
Hugs,
marlene
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