The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development plans to issue an RFP for the development of two lots at 516 Bergen Street and 542 Dean Street. The RFP will call for both sites to be used for affordable housing, with a focus on senior housing at the Dean Street site.
The purpose of this online public meeting is to gain a better understanding of this community’s vision for how the site will best benefit its future residents and the community as a whole. Facilitated through a series of activities and discussions, participants will be asked to give their feedback on the non-residential uses, affordability and design features they feel should included in these project.
Attendance will be capped at 75 people. If HPD cannot accommodate all interested participants for this event, it will host this same meeting again on December 2 for those who were not able to attend on November 18.
Please RSVP here.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development will be releasing RFPs for the development of two sites it owns in Prospect Heights, 516 Bergen Street and 542 Dean Street. There will be a meeting on Wednesday, October 21 to introduce the sites' conditions, highlight opportunities to get involved and to review the future public meetings that are scheduled. Participants will be able to ask city staffers questions about the project and will receive a tutorial on the different ways to engage through the M/WBE RFP 2 website. More information and a link to RSVP is available here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left many of the city’s tenants vulnerable to harassment by their landlords and possible eviction. Learn about your rights, what resources are available to help you, and how to fight a potential eviction during this webinar with PHNDC partners IMPACCT Brooklyn and the Legal Aid Society. Topics discussed will include rent stabilization, repairs, lease renewal, rent strikes and eviction.
Click here to register to attend.
Recently, the New York State legislature passed amendments to the rent regulation laws, which will alter or eliminate many common elements of the landlord/rent regulated tenant relationship. These new laws include:
The new laws represent, in our opinion, a shift in the balance of power from the landlord of the rent regulated building to the rent regulated tenant: the laws remove many tools and incentives for landlords to vacate and decontrol regulated apartments and turn them into market rate units. Prospect Heights has seen significant displacement of residents by income over the last fifteen years. In PHNDC’s 2016 neighborhood survey, residents identified social and economic diversity as being one of the characteristics most important for a good quality of life. Residents also most frequently cited housing as the area in need of greatest improvement in Prospect Heights. We believe these new laws will make it easier for Prospect Heights tenants in rent stabilized housing to remain in the neighborhood as housing cost continues to increase, so consider their passage a win for our community.
More information about the rights of tenants, and services available to assist them, is available at https://www.phndc.org/KnowYourRights.
As gentrification of Brooklyn neighborhoods continues, pressure on tenants builds from landlords anxious to increase rents. The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council has teamed up with IMPACCT Brooklyn and JustFix.nyc to help tenants with the information and tools they need to keep their apartments and stay in the communities they love. If you are currently facing displacement pressure, or simply want to be prepared in the event of a change of building ownership, you will learn how to:
Seniors and individuals with disabilities who own their homes have until January 16, 2018, to apply for the newly expanded Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE) or Disabled Homeowners’ Exemption (DHE). Recently enacted legislation has increased the number of homeowners who qualify for SCHE and DHE. Seniors and people with disabilities who own their homes and have incomes up to $50,000 may qualify for the full 50% reduction in their home's assessed value. Additionally, those with incomes up to $58,399 may benefit from a lower reduction.
Working with local elected officials, the Department of Finance has successfully enrolled hundreds of homeowners since late 2017. Any homeowners who have not yet applied for either of these property tax credits but feel that they may qualify are encouraged to attend the "Day of Action" on Tuesday, January 16th at any point between 10 AM and 4 PM. Prospective applicants must bring their 2016 recent tax return as well as a form of photo identification. (Those who did not file tax returns should bring documentation of all sources of income.) For additional information, please call 311 or visit our website at www.nyc.gov/sche or www.nyc.gov/dhe.