The Landmarks Preservation Commission looked in to designating the Sears store on Beverley Road, near Bedford Avenue in Flatbush, a landmark, the Brooklyn Paper reported. The three-story building’s Art Deco edifice remains largely intact from its 1932 opening. “It recall[s] the Empire State Building — it has all these Art Deco details as you get closer,” said Tenzing Chadotsang, who directs a grant program for the commission and first brought the building to the city’s attention. The commission discussed the building at Tuesday’s meeting, when they designated four other buildings as landmarks, but pushed the decision back to a later date. [Brooklyn Paper]

Michael Campbell at 65 Fen, a wine shop he opened in December in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

From the March issue: Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the Brooklyn neighborhood that hugs the east side of Prospect Park (effectively mirroring Park Slope on the west), has been touted as an up-and-coming neighborhood for more than a few years now. But somehow it’s never quite caught on in the way that some other neighborhoods have.

Though the area is full of tree-lined streets dotted with well-priced limestone townhouses that sit back on their own lawns, there are only a few restaurants, cafés, boutiques and other stores to speak of.

“Amenities like restaurants and stuff [are] definitely sparse compared to other neighborhoods,” said Victoria Hagman, owner of Realty Collective and Manzione Real Estate. “But I think people are beginning to realize that it’s an untapped market.”

PLG residents, however, don’t seem interested in waiting for others to appreciate their “untapped market.” Instead, they are taking matters into their own hands, determined to help transform their neighborhood. [more]

Brooklyn City Council member Kendall Stewart, landlord of a building at
1740-46 Nostrand Avenue, has 26 open violations at the Flatbush
building, the New York Daily News reported. Stewart has had a rat
infestation violation at the building since 2001, a violation that
landlords are required by city law to fix within 24 hours, according to
the Daily News. Other recorded violations include exposed electrical
wiring, mice, roaches and crumbling floors. Tenants said the building
also lacks heat. Stewart, who is up for reelection this year, purchased
the building in 1991, and a spokesperson said Stewart “inherited many
challenges” when he bought the property. City officials said Stewart’s
tenants could take him to court over the open violations. [more]

The City Planning Commission approved the rezoning of 180 blocks in
Flatbush, and the proposal will now move on to the City Council, which
will likely vote on the plan in late July. The rezoning area is bounded
by Caton Avenue, Parkside Avenue and Clarkson Avenue on the north;
Bedford Avenue and the Community District 14 boundary to the east;
Campus Road and the Long Island Railroad’s Bay Ridge freight line on
the south; and Coney Island Avenue on the west. According to the
Department of City Planning Web site, the proposed zoning would
be in keeping with the existing buildings in the area, which includes
detached homes, row houses and apartment buildings. The current zoning
has no established height limits, and tall apartment buildings have
gone up in the area where single-family homes used to stand. The new
zoning also provides incentives for affordable housing in the area and
commercial growth. [more]

State Senator Kevin Parker’s two-story Flatbush home is facing
foreclosure, according to the Post. The four-term Democrat representing
Brooklyn’s 21st district hasn’t paid his $488,000 mortgage in more than
a year. Parker obtained the mortgage in 2006 with lender New Century
Mortgage Corp., which folded, and the loan now belongs to DLJ Mortgage
Capital. DLJ claims in a lawsuit that it received only eight monthly
payments, and the lender waited just over a year to start foreclosure
action. Neighbors said there has been a for sale sign in front of the
house for six months, and no one has been living there. Parker has been
an advocate for foreclosure relief, and last summer announced he
supported “Operation Protect Your Home,” an effort to help homeowners
keep their properties. [more]

Left to right: Bushwick, Vito Lopez, East Harlem

The state Affordable
Housing Corp. and State of New York Mortgage Agency has approved $35.8
million in financing to build and renovate 669 housing units across the
state. “The grants announced today are an important investment in
communities throughout New York. From Brooklyn to Rochester,
renovations and construction of new units will assist thousands of New
Yorkers in need of affordable housing,” said Assemblyman Vito Lopez, chairman of the Assembly Housing Committee. Projects in New York City to get
funding include a 71-unit co-op at East 156th Street at Brook Avenue in
the Bronx, which will get $1.78 million; $3.02 million will go towards
acquiring and rehabilitating six buildings in Bushwick, Flatbush,
Harlem and Washington Heights; $3.2 million will help acquire and rehab
five buildings in Highbridge, Morris Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brownsville and East Harlem; and $2.15 million will go to help build 66
condo units along Ely and Bartow Avenues in the Baychester section of
the Bronx. TRD [more]