Condos cut in latest Bedford-Union Armory plan

The controversial Bedford-Union Armory plan in Crown Heights took another step forward on Tuesday, but not before major changes were made.

The project will no longer include any condos, and it will now feature 250 affordable apartments with rents between $521 and $1,166—up from 115 affordable apartments with rents of up to $2,135 per month in the original plan, according to the New York Daily News.

The changes were enough to secure the support of Crown Heights Council member Laurie Cumbo, who had previously opposed the plan, arguing that it did not include enough affordable housing and that it should not include the proposed market rate condos. A council subcommittee unanimously voted to approve the project on Tuesday, and the full council will likely approve it next week.

The project, led by developer BFC Partners, will also include a recreation center, with half of memberships going to neighborhood residents for $10 per month, and 10 percent of apartments will be reserved for formerly homeless people.

However, the deal was still not enough to satisfy all of the plan’s critics, who wanted all housing on land owned by the city to be affordable and who maintain that rents are still too expensive for many neighborhood residents.

Although there were no reported arrests this time, Cumbo still faced a combative audience of hecklers claiming she had sold out the community by throwing her support behind the plan.

“This so-called deal is an insult to the people of Crown Heights,” Jonathan Westin, executive director of New York Communities for Change, told the Daily News, “who will undoubtedly be displaced as a result of this project.” [NYDN] – Eddie Small