A state Supreme Court judge ruled against the city in the controversial Broadway Triangle rezoning case in which a coalition of community groups allege that the Bloomberg administration steered affordable housing deals to members of the Hasidic community and two non-profit groups linked to Brooklyn party boss Vito Lopez.

The Bloomberg administration filed an October 2010 motion asking Judge Emily Goodwin to lift a stay on development of three sites near the Williamsburg location of Broadway Triangle. Several other affordable housing projects are on hold pending an investigation into possible civil rights violations by Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

City officials said the ruling will not have any impact on the case, as the development still remains on hold until the investigation moves forward. [more]

The city’s investigation into the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council — a non-profit founded by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, allegedly plagued by fraud — is hindering the group’s effort to develop a huge city-owned plot of contaminated land called the Broadway Triangle, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Attorneys for the city asked a Manhattan judge to lift her stay on development, despite the concurrent investigations into the site’s developer, and the state’s decision to delay funding for housing contracts on two city-owned sites within the triangle. Ridgewood Bushwick and its nonprofit partner, the United Jewish Organizations, were awarded the rights to develop 1,895 units of housing on a 31-acre brownfield near the former headquarters of Pfizer in South Williamsburg almost two years ago. The plan was approved by the city, despite protests from community members who sued to stop it. At the same time, federal investigators were probing the records of Lopez, regarding how government subsidies could be used to fund brownfield redevelopment programs such as the Broadway Triangle. Thanks to the judge’s reluctance to move forward, the Broadway Triangle now remains on hold. [Brooklyn Paper]

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The city’s investigation into the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council — a non-profit founded by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, allegedly plagued by fraud — is hindering the group’s effort to develop a huge city-owned plot of contaminated land called the Broadway Triangle, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Attorneys for the city asked a Manhattan judge to lift her stay on development, despite the concurrent investigations into the site’s developer, and the state’s decision to delay funding for housing contracts on two city-owned sites within the triangle. Ridgewood Bushwick and its nonprofit partner, the United Jewish Organizations, were awarded the rights to develop 1,895 units of housing on a 31-acre brownfield near the former headquarters of Pfizer in South Williamsburg almost two years ago. The plan was approved by the city, despite protests from community members who sued to stop it. At the same time, federal investigators were probing the records of Lopez, regarding how government subsidies could be used to fund brownfield redevelopment programs such as the Broadway Triangle. Thanks to the judge‘s reluctance to move forward, the Broadway Triangle now remains on hold. [Brooklyn Paper]

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A housing scandal that left thousands of New Yorkers living in decrepit homes is proving to be lucrative for a not-for-profit group linked to Assemblyman Vito Lopez, chair of the state Assembly’s housing committee. Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, bought 25 abandoned buildings from the federal government for just $10, according to property records, while the feds gave $24 million to pay to repair the buildings, the New York Post reported. Now, the agency is getting federally subsidized rent from 100 apartments, plus rent from four storefronts in buildings scattered around Bushwick. In addition to the 25 rental buildings, the RBSCC, founded by Lopez in 1973, ended up redeveloping another 18 buildings into affordable co-op buildings, for which the not-for-profit received another $16 million from the federal government. [more]

Is $29.3 million really necessary to renovate two low-income senior housing centers in Bushwick? Not so, say experts Henry Stern, a former city official, and developer Ken Diamondstone, who question whether the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council may have padded its request when city officials offered to foot the bill for the multi-million project with taxpayer funds. Among the suspicious fiscal footsteps are an over-inflated purchase price to an investor, an out-of-place $5.6 million architecture and engineering fee and a $3.5 million developer fee, which some say is too much for an 18-month project, according to the New York Post. When all is set and done, the 160 units each cost an average of $183,098 to renovate — a fishy number, some say. [Post]

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Court hearings over the controversial Broadway Triangle rezoning began last week, with plaintiffs contending that the city left key community groups out of the planning process before handing the development rights over to Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the United Jewish Organizations, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The city, on the other hand, claims that the plans moved more quickly not because of bias but due to a funding deadline. Louise Moed, an attorney for the city, said that blocking the project would be a detriment to the community. “The city will be harmed and residents will lose access to affordable housing if the sites are not developed,” Moed said.