It took two decades, but the ribbon has at last been cut at a Brooklyn apartment complex that marked its long-in-the-making grand opening on Sunday.
The Culver El Affordable Housing Development had been in the works for 20 years, but a succession of issues kept the Borough Park development in limbo until this week.
“It took much longer than it should have taken, and we have to learn from that actually, because we need to produce housing a lot faster,” city comptroller Brad Lander said at the reception for the nine-building, 36-unit 37th Street project, AMNY reported. “I think it’s important to recognize that the vast majority of the affordable housing that we build in New York City today, is rental housing, and of course we need a lot of rental housing for people but boy we need homeownership opportunities for working, low-income and middle-class families.”
During his remarks, Lander also noted that subsidized condominiums like Culver El are significant not only in providing affordable housing for large families, but also serve as a safe space in a majority Jewish community — and during a time of increased anti-Semitic crimes, the publication noted.
Conceived by the Southern Brooklyn Community Organization in the early 2000s, Culver El — named for the elevated stretch of train that used to occupy the block on which it was built — was championed by mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005. But it was left to stagnate during a rezoning, construction — and then the pandemic, during which time the development spent two years sitting empty.
Although previous mayors have trumpeted and toured the development over the years, Mayor Eric Adams chose to send a representative to the unveiling instead of attending in person, according to Matzav.
“The project has been affected terribly by the pandemic, as our offices were forced to close, as well as our attorneys’, and, of course the AG’s office,” Rabbi Avrohom Jaffe said in 2021, The Post reported at the time. “With the clunkiness of remote communication, what should have taken weeks through face-to-face meetings actually took many months.”
According to the application, the condos consist of three to four bedrooms for families of three to nine making between $77,800 and $160,600 annually. The units range in price from $330,000 to $515,000. The apartments began selling in early 2020.