The Bedford Union Armory (now officially known as the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center) is a historic National Guard armory building located in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is a brick and stone castle-like structure built in 1903 and opened in 1908 and was used by the U.S. Army for training, equipment storage and even as a horse stable. [1] The current community center opened in October 2021.
The Armory was proposed for redevelopment in 2015 as a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use development in a joint venture between the state EDC and several companies. The plan promises 350 housing units, half of them "affordable housing." There will also be a 45,000 square-foot multi-sport recreational facility, developed with the assistance of Carmelo Anthony and his foundation, office and commercial space, and a community space. [1]
At the December 2015 announcement of the redevelopment, Walter Mosley said "We understand that we still have a long way to go. Understand that there are concerns that this community have brought to my attention and we need to ensure that we listen to them with a compassionate ear. Because ultimately, they're the ones who are going to have to deal with the ultimate outcome of this project." [1]
By 2016 it was being redeveloped by BFC Partners via a lengthy public review process, despite community opposition. Cumbo said "Let's just continue to negotiate, see what the final outcome is, and if it's satisfactory," claiming adjustments could be made along the way. [2] This followed many more months of push back from residents and activists. [3] The new plan passed six months later and kept attracted protesters with Jonathan Westin of Communities for Change saying "The entire process was fixed from the beginning so the Mayor could push through a deal to one of his favored developers.... Plainly and simply: this is planned gentrification, driven by the gentrification mayor and rubber-stamped by Laurie Cumbo." [4] In November 2017, Crown Heights tenants stood on the steps of City Hall and sued New York City and the NYCEDC in an effort to stall a controversial redevelopment plan on the armory. [5]
In December 2019, groundbreaking begun on the armory and was halted in March 2020, groundbreaking resumed in June 2020. [6] On February 26, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, City Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo, and BFC Partners announced the renaming of the Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights for Major Robert Odell Owens (1936–2013) who represented Crown Heights in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007. The facility includes an indoor swimming pool, 3 hardwood basketball courts, an indoor soccer field, dance and performance studios, a fitness center and areas for boxing and archery, as well as 45,000 square feet (4,200 m2) for local community-based nonprofits. [7] An affordable housing lottery launched in June 2021, [8] [9] and the recreation center opened October 27, 2021. [10] [11]
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City. Located on the westernmost edge of Long Island, it is coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York. With 2,736,074 residents as of the 2020 United States census, Kings County is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City and the most populous county in the State of New York. The population density of Brooklyn was 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2) in 2022, making it the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind Manhattan, and it had the ninth-highest population of any county nationwide. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New York Avenue to the south. It is about one mile (1.6 km) wide and two miles (3.2 km) long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights to the west, Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens to the south, Brownsville to the east, and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north.
Bedford–Stuyvesant, colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north, Classon Avenue to the west, Broadway to the east, and Atlantic Avenue to the south. The main shopping street, Fulton Street, runs east–west the length of the neighborhood and intersects high-traffic north–south streets including Bedford Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, and Stuyvesant Avenue. Bedford–Stuyvesant contains four smaller neighborhoods: Bedford, Stuyvesant Heights, Ocean Hill, and Weeksville. Part of Clinton Hill was once considered part of Bedford–Stuyvesant.
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors, with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city's future economy."
Pacific Park is a mixed-use commercial and residential development project by Forest City Ratner that will consist of 17 high-rise buildings, under construction in Prospect Heights, adjacent to Downtown Brooklyn, Park Slope, and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York City. The project overlaps part of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, but also extends toward the adjacent brownstone neighborhood. Of the 22-acre (8.9 ha) project, 8.4 acres (3.4 ha) is located over a Long Island Rail Road train yard. A major component of the project is the Barclays Center sports arena, which opened on September 21, 2012. Formerly named Atlantic Yards, the project was renamed by the developer in August 2014 as part of a rebranding.
Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford–Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 16 and was founded in 1890. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233. Ocean Hill's boundaries start from Broadway and the neighborhood of Bushwick in the north, Ralph Avenue and the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant proper and Crown Heights to the west, East New York Avenue and the neighborhood of Brownsville to the south, and Van Sinderen Avenue and the neighborhood of East New York to the east.
Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching 10.2 miles (16.4 km) and 132 blocks, from Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint south to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, and passing through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood, Marine Park, and Sheepshead Bay.
The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is a decommissioned armory at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the firm of then-state architect Lewis Pilcher to house the New York National Guard's Eighth Coast Defense Command, a regiment-sized unit which relocated from Manhattan in 1917. It is possibly the largest armory in the world.
Rafael L. Espinal Jr. is an American politician and non-profit executive. A Democrat, he represented the 37th district of the New York City Council, which includes portions of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Cypress Hills, and East New York in Brooklyn.
Laurie A. Cumbo is an American politician and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. A Democrat, she served in the New York City Council for the 35th district from 2014 to 2021, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Prospect Heights, portions of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Vinegar Hill. She is the founder and first executive director of the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts.
Vicki L. Been is an American lawyer, public servant, and professor who served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Housing and Economic Development from April 2019 to December 2021. She previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She is a law professor at the New York University School of Law and has served as director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.
The Brooklyn–Queens Connector, abbreviated the BQX, was a proposed streetcar line in New York City. It is planned to operate on a north–south corridor along the East River between the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn.
1 Clinton Street is a primarily residential building under development in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. The building will replace a preexisting branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. It is being developed by Hudson Companies and designed by Marvel Architects.
The Crown Heights Tenant Union (CHTU) is a tenants union created in October 2013 to unify old and new tenants against the gentrification of the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. The CHTU has pushed for local collective bargaining agreements between tenants and landlords to be written into the deeds of buildings that would regulate rent increases and codify repair and renovation standards. They also assist individual tenants, educating them on their rights and how to enforce them, lobby in Albany for better rent laws, and participate in direct action, targeting predatory equity real-estate companies they believe to be involved in illegal evictions and harassment tactics.
Jabari Brisport is an American politician, activist, and former public school teacher. He is the state senator for New York's 25th State Senate district in Brooklyn, and the first openly gay person of color to be elected to the New York State Legislature.
Brooklyn Community Pride Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBTQ+ community center in Brooklyn, New York. Incorporated in 2008, it was the first LGBTQ+ center in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Crystal R. Hudson is an American politician from New York City. A Democrat, she represents the 35th district of the New York City Council, which covers parts of central Brooklyn.
Open New York (ONY) is a New York-based non-profit advocacy organization focused on addressing metropolitan New York's housing shortage by increasing the rate of housing production in the city and region. Part of the broader "YIMBY" (Yes In My Back Yard) movement, the group advocates for the lifting of exclusionary zoning restrictions and reforms to zoning regulations to enable more residential homebuilding in what it terms "high-opportunity" areas near job centers and transit with high incomes.
Maria Torres-Springer is an American government official and former nonprofit executive who is the Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce for New York City. Previously the vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation, Torres-Springer was commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services and its Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She was also the president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Eric Adams served as borough president of Brooklyn from January 1, 2014 until December 31, 2021. He was the first African American to hold the office.
