Push To Have The Community’s Voice Heard Regarding The Vital Brooklyn Project

by Jay Sorid

Please help us help you, by joining us tonight at 7 pm at 400 Empire Blvd (MS 61), ( Empire & NY Ave) to tell Brooklyn Community Board 9 to issue a resolution requesting a Community Impact Hearing with AG Letisha James before she signs off on Vital Brooklyn Kingsboro Psych which will redevelop 681 Clarkson Ave. (Albany & Clarkson/ Winthrop)

https://esd.ny.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/ESD-KPC-FEIS-00b-Executive-Summary.pdf – p. 20.

Said project will have1081 residential units with zero parking spots.

There will be a measly 30 restricted parking spots for 63,071 community facility sq ft, plus 15 restricted parking spots for the employees of the 8092 sq ft supermarket.

The 1081 residential units will include 308 units for supportive housing, plus101 units for the senior formerly homeless (includes supportive housing referrals), plus a 364 bed rebuilt shelter.  When you add it up, that comes to potentially 773 social service beds or more. ( CAMBA already operates 328 formerly homeless/supportive units across the street on Albany. )

The new owner of the 364 bed men’s shelter at 681 Clarkson Av will be “Breaking Ground”, which already operates shelter down the block at 781 Clarkson (by E 49th Street).

https://breakingground.org/our-housing/east-flatbush –“There are no curfews, and more privacy”. – this will be a new change at 681 Clarkson, with no curfew, and no gated fence.

Tonight’s community board resolution will come from a motion by a Community Board member from the floor during the New Business part of meeting – probably after 8:15 pm.

 Public comment opportunities for individuals who wish to speak will be at the beginning of the meeting, which starts at 7:00 pm.

 https://www.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb9/calendar/speaker-request-form.page – Public comment request

I have spoken with a community board member, who will be making the motion.  

Come out and show Community Board 9 members that you want the NYS AG to have a local community impact hearing before she signs off on said project.

NYS AG Letisha James’ Community Impact Hearing helped save a Bronx High School – maybe it can help SAVE EAST FLATBUSH.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb9/calendar/calendar.page#calendar1/day/2025-05-27  – Brooklyn CB 9 Public Calendar

Being against the oversaturation of homeless/supportive housing is not being anti-homeless/supportive housing – it’s simply not dumping the city’s problems in just one neighborhood.

I still cannot understand how a NYS project whose purpose is economic development, ends up further oversaturating a neighborhood with homeless and then also takes away the very parking spots that working people need, to drive to work and earn a living.