Neighbors say B’way building is too big

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Residents are keeping up the pressure on Selfhelp’s plans to build affordable housing for seniors on Broadway after the non-profit acquiesced to previous demands not to house the mentally ill there.

Now the focus is on the size and parking for the building at 6469 Broadway. Earlier this month, members of a Community Board (CB) 8 working group grilled two representatives of the $26.4 million project, asking why they cannot lower the height of the building from 11 to nine stories and whether they can alter their parking plans.

While Selfhelp’s Vice President Evelyn Wolff insisted on Oct. 9 that funding arrangements for the 86-unit building make it impossible for the non-profit to change its size, recent experience suggests the state might be able to intervene on residents’ behalf.

Ms. Wolff said last December — after months of criticism and demonstrations from residents opposed to Selfhelp’s plans to house the mentally disabled — authorities told the non-profit that the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) would no longer provide more than $13 million in financing for the affordable housing project.

Ms. Wolff continued that in January of this year, Selfhelp learned it would in fact receive state assistance for the project, minus the units for the mentally disabled.

“I don’t know who did whatever was done. I’m not at that level,” she remarked.

It appears that state Sen. Co-majority Leader Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz — both of whom attended rallies against Selfhelp’s project last year — prevailed upon state authorities to tie HFA funding to cancelling the plans for the mentally ill. 

In an interview after the Oct. 9 meeting, Mr. Dinowitz did not answer a question about what happened between December and January. Mr. Klein and HFA’s press office did not answer press inquiries.

Now that residents are worried the size of the project could set a precedent for gigantic buildings to pop up along Broadway, Mr. Dinowitz said he would consider approaching state housing commissioner Darryl Towns about intervening.

Financing in place

Shant Shahrigian, CB8, Selfhelp, 6469 Broadway
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