Tamon Charles-Activity 4

Scavenger Hunt

7. According to a foreclosure tracking firm, the Borough of Brooklyn has faced an all time high of in foreclosure homes. As of January 2010, there was an increase of 35% compared to December of 2009. The most tattered Brooklyn neighborhoods affected include Bedford-Stuyvesant, Flatlands, Canarsie, East New York and East Flatbush respectively.

Brooklyn foreclosure counselor Stephan Dookeeram, [who works with the Pratt Area Community Council] said that he has been seeing a faster pace of foreclosure homes listing because of job losses in this economic struggle. Homeowners operating a second home as rental housing have also been losing these second homes due to foreclosure because their tenants no longer have sources of income as well.
My experiences of this task were studying the various areas and then maneuver myself around to find evidence of foreclosure to complete this assignment. I think that it is also interesting to find these homes/buildings amongst a neighborhood that you may initially think that seem to be flourishing as you find other homes being utilized until you find a few that are vacant.



8. New York City Department of City Planning declares that “zoning shapes the city. Zoning determines the size and use of buildings, where they are located and, in large measure, the densities of the city’s diverse neighborhoods. Along with the city's power to budget, tax, and condemn property, zoning is a key tool for carrying out planning policy. New York City has been a pioneer in the field of zoning policy since it enacted the nation's first comprehensive Zoning Resolution in 1916.”
The New York City Department of Buildings primarily has the responsibility for implementing the Zoning Resolution and also for interpreting its provisions. One such neighborhood that is affected by this is the Williamsburg area.

In the Greenpoint-Williamsburg area in Brooklyn, Community District One covers approximately 184 blocks where the zoning, for the most part, does not permit new residential buildings. This area under study is bordered by the East River, the Williamsburg Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and McGuinness Boulevard.
The Department of City Planning has proposed new zoning changes to allow for housing as well as open spaces, for both light industry and commercial uses, along the two miles of Brooklyn’s East River waterfront and the upland neighborhoods. The proposed actions include a zoning map and zoning text changes to facilitate the new housing and local commercial development. Also, in concurrence with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the city map will change to launch a new, 27.8-acre waterfront park.