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CB 18 Says "No" To Proposed Gil Hodges Loop In Mill Basin When Community Board 18 held its latest meeting at the Hudson River Yacht Club in Bergen Beach on January 17th, representatives of Ocean Management Corporation were hoping to make progress on their bid for an amended city map to include a housing development area in Mill Basin. The representatives, attorney Howard Goldman and structure planner Philip Habib, originally came before the board last month with a billboard graphic depicting the proposed Harbor Village development between Avenues N and T. At that meeting, board members expressed apprehension and displeasure about the project. Goldman and Habib soon discovered at the recent meeting that not only had the community board not budged from their position, they were now even more adamantly opposed. In submitting a Uniform Land Use Renewal Project (ULURP) application to the CB 18, Ocean Management began a process that leads to the Borough President’s Office, City Planning Commission, and finally, the City Council. However, they must get a galvanized Community Board to pass a motion for a city map that would include the Gil Hodges Loop, the section where the 74 two-family homes would be located. The city okayed the plan for the project under the premise that the developers would create the publicly-accessible loop. The objective appeared simple enough to Goldman who referenced a 1991 Harbor Village project that the Borough President approved. However, CB 18 District Manager Dorothy Turano quickly pointed out that the proposed project was never endorsed or approved by the other necessary agencies and therefore, failed. Since the December meeting, Turano contacted Goldman about making revisions to the development’s plans. At last week’s meeting, Goldman responded to the board’s suggestions, saying he didn’t see their proposals "as good options." Turano responded, "How many of your houses would it eliminate?" In response to the implications in Turano’s statement, Goldman denied Ocean Management’s being worried about losing housing and, subsequently, money. He announced plans to give one lot, 30 feet adjacent to the property, to the Anthony J. Genovesi Environmental Center at 7151 Avenue T. In spite of Goldman’s announcement community members remained skeptical and pursued what one described as Ocean Management’s plans to "maximize density". State Senator Carl Kruger stated his desire that Ocean Management consider building less housing. "You may find it," he said, "economically unfeasible for you to build…but look at disasters like Perry Lane and Bergen Cove (areas noted for congestion)." Goldman pointed out again that the city approved the project with the proposed density and that the project itself really wasn’t up for question. "The city wants to see it," he stated. Kruger replied, "The community doesn’t want to see it." Principal Linda Beal-Benigno of P.S. 312 at 7103 Avenue T made it clear that her school was not equipped to handle the projected number of additional students the new housing project would bring. Citing already overcorowded classes with more than 30 students and an overflow of students in 8 by 10 classrooms, Benigno said to Goldman, "We get new admits about every two weeks. Give us a lot. We need an annex." Taking up the plight of the elementary school, Flo Hirsch, President of the Bergen Beach Civic Association proclaimed, "We withhold any support for your (Ocean Management’s) project until a plan is formulated for the expansion of P.S. 312. Our community will not stand for it." At the end of the meeting, the board voted against an amended city map. According to the City Planning Commission’s press office, a public street must appear on the city map. The board’s decision has the potential to effectively make Ocean Management renegotiate the 74 units to a lesser number, or abandoned the six-acre land project altogether.
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