In less than two hours, New Domino, the plan to remake the former Domino Sugar Refinery into 2,200 units of condominiums, will be up for a vote by Community Board 1 tonight. This figures to be a long one, as it is open to the public and everyone is going to want to voice their opinion on this.
Meanwhile, Rose Plaza passed in a close 7-5 vote. Brooklyn Paper, Greenpoint Gazette, and Crain's has the play by play. I'll have more on this later too.
Back on Domino. So far the narrative of the story has been to focus on the project itself. That is, its density, the affordability component, effect on school crowding, transportation and infrastructure. This week, you may hear more about who is supporting and opposing it and why, as the project itself won't change much between committee and the full board. There will be a number of people in favor of the project from church groups and south side nonprofits, while property owners, business owners and transportation groups will likely be speaking against the project.
While CPC Resources will be on hand to explain the plan, the most interesting thing about the debate has been happening behind the scenes, as a few papers have been looking into a nasty rumor about Williamsburg nonprofit organizations receiving funding from CPC Resources and whether there could be conflict of interest (WG News and Arts has a version of the story). Last week, a more specific version was being shopped around to a few dailies, one of which passed on it, which raises other questions. This week, a few board members have called the Borough President's office on this matter and they have said that there is not a conflict of interest, as long as you don't work for the developer. Someone will raise this up tonight. It could get ugly.
2 comments:
Did these members recuse themselves from voting? They could lose their positions on the Community Board if it is found that there was an actual conflict of interest and they still voted. I'm sure that this article will be sent to the Borough President's Office.
There was not a conflict of interest, which an attorney for the Beep's office determined and explained at the meeting based on their policies. Few recused themselves.
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