Brooklyn Comprehensive Plan Recommendations

Our city and Brooklyn face historically unprecedented and difficult times. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Brooklyn residents faced disparities in public health, affordable housing, vulnerability to climate change, and were grappling with the effects of generational racism and inequality. The pandemic has both exacerbated these inequities and exposed systemic flaws in how we approach them – specifically, the City’s unwillingness to engage in comprehensive planning.

The Office of the Brooklyn Borough President is undertaking a data-driven comprehensive planning effort for the borough rooted in improving public health outcomes for Brooklynites. Find the draft Existing Conditions report here.

We want to hear from constituents throughout this process. Please provide your feedback on the following goals, objectives, and recommendations for the borough.

Sign up for email updates and stay tuned for the release of the final report in Summer 2023.

Objective 1 of 4: Complete remediation of toxic sites in the borough
Metrics: Number of E-designations, Brownfield Cleanup Programs, Voluntary Cleanup Programs, Superfund sites

Recommendations:

• Prioritize the completion of Brownfield and Superfund cleanup near
  Army Corps HATS sites
• Give the City and State design build authority in order to expedite resiliency projects
• Coordinate disclosure of environmental risks between City, State and the public

Objective 2 of 4: Improve indoor and outdoor air quality
Metrics: PM 2.5 concentration, Nitrous Oxide, Ozone, childhood asthma hospitalization rates

Recommendations:

• Improve outdoor air quality through Borough-wide mitigation strategies
• Expand tree cover to improve local air quality
  • Land Use: Highlight the need for more tree canopy in areas of high heat vulnerability
  • Budget: Prioritize funding for parks in areas of high heat vulnerability

Objective 3 of 4: Protect vulnerable populations from high heat

Recommendations:

• Expand tree cover to reduce urban heat island effect
• Expand access to air conditioning (AC) in both public and private buildings
  • Advocacy: Prioritize intensive public outreach plan to ensure vulnerable populations have access to nearest cooling centers
  • Budget: Expand the number of cooling centers
  • Budget: Capital program for AC in schools
  • Land Use: Require AC in new construction

Objective 4 of 4: Plan for climate change and future disasters

Recommendations:

• Support implementation of Army Corps HATS project that is responsive to public concerns
• Through zoning text amendment, require new evacuation plans for new construction in floodplains
• Encourage new construction projects to follow City’s Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines

Objective 1 of 4: Lower health care costs
Metric: Reduce household healthcare costs measured by National Health Expenditures

Recommendations:

• Expand Neighborhood Health Centers in areas with a high concentration of uninsured populations
• Establish an Office of Healthcare Accountability to create transparency around cost of services at local hospitals

Objective 2 of 4: Remove barriers to health care

Recommendations:

• Ensure Brooklynites live within walkable distance from quality health care facility
  • Land Use: Siting new healthcare facilities in mixed-use development projects
  • Advocacy: Increase transportation access to critical safety net health care facilities by building the Interborough Express (IBX)
• Ensure all Brooklynites have access to affordable health insurance
  • Advocacy: Public Outreach campaign to encourage NYC residents to sign up for NYC Care

Objective 3 of 4: Reduce complications related to childbirth
Metric: Reduce low birth weight

Recommendations:

• Make data public as it relates to complications and death during childbirth
• Highlight the work of the Borough President’s Maternal Health Task Force

Objective 4 of 4: Increase life expectancy in Brooklyn
Metric: Increase life expectancy in communities where life expectancy is disproportionately low

Recommendations:

• Increase awareness and utilization of safe pathways to school
• Ensure adequate lighting on streets to increase sense of safety
• Support strong commercial corridors to ensure eyes on the street
• Expand City’s Crisis Management System to support the work of violence interrupters

Objective 1 of 5: Strengthen Brooklyn’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure
Metric: Reduce rates of adult obesity and diabetes

Recommendations:

• Strengthen Brooklyn’s bicycle network based on NYC Streets Plan
  • Land Use: Coordinate with developers to provide bicycle terminals/parking, and facilities that make biking easier in Brooklyn
  • Advocacy: Prioritize protected bike lanes that connect to transit stations, commercial centers, schools, libraries, parks, and other important activity centers
  • Advocacy: Remove barriers to implementation of street safety projects
  • Advocacy: Require the City to redesign the truck route network to improve safety and reduce emissions
• Recommendation: Expand and increase access to Citibike
  • Advocacy: Expand Citibike across the whole borough
  • Advocacy: Site future Citibike docks in the roadbed rather than sidewalk
• Ensure ADA accessibility on all Brooklyn sidewalks
  • Advocacy: Require DOB to conduct survey of subpar sidewalk conditions in Brooklyn
  • Land Use: Rationalize builders’ pavement plans to improve sidewalk conditions along an entire blockface when a project is in public review

Objective 2 of 5: Transform public streets as public gathering and recreation spaces

Recommendations:

• Redesign dangerous intersections, as described in Vision Zero, using the Complete Streets model
• Ensure every resident has a park or green space within a 10-minute walk
• Ensure every resident has access to free public active open space in their community district
  • Advocacy: Support a residential parking permit system

Objective 3 of 5: Better manage Brooklyn’s curb space to remove on-street conflicts

Recommendations:

• Adequately price public space devoted to parking
  • Advocacy: Increase the location, and pricing of metered parking to encourage off-street parking
• Reserve on-street curb space for delivery trucks in every community
  • Advocacy: Expand commercial and residential loading zones
  • Advocacy: Automate traffic enforcement to deter on-street parking violations

Objective 4 of 5: Foster healthy and active public spaces

Recommendations:

• Promote public spaces, such as open streets and plazas that enhance the pedestrian environment, as well as facilitate the use of public spaces for community activities
• Invest in public active recreation in areas with chronic health disparities
  • Budget: Increase funding for active recreation programming and facilities, both within the Parks Department budget and community-based organizations
• Recommendation: Build out a network of school streets, both to emphasize family/childhood health and to bolster schools as a community space in every neighborhood in the borough

Objective 5 of 5: Reduce food insecurity in Brooklyn

Recommendations:

• Develop local food hubs that deliver local produce to institutions and households to increase access to fresh and healthy food

Objective 1 of 4: Expand support for behavioral health, substance use, and interpersonal violence support
Metric: Reduce reported bad mental health days

Recommendations:

• Support community facility uses that increase access to affordable behavioral health, substance use, and interpersonal violence support
• Support Project Pivot: safe pathways to school
• Support and expand for more art therapy programs in public schools

Objective 2 of 4: Support community-based organizations through funding and advocacy

Recommendations:

• Support small non-profits in communities of color to acquire permanent space

Objective 3 of 4: Ensure communities with a high number of foreign-born populations have access to translation services, health care facilities, and strong community services

Recommendations:

• Explore settlement house model
• Streamline City contracts for translation services
• Ensure public interest law organizations are available for immigration assistance

Objective 4 of 4: Increase transit access to Higher Education institutions in Brooklyn

Recommendations:

• Support completion of Interborough Express (IBX)
• Support “micro” transit networks for college students to and from campus

Objective 1 of 3: Develop new affordable housing, especially in areas where housing production has not kept pace

Recommendations:

• Require 100% affordable housing, in perpetuity when housing projects receive City subsidy
• Support mission-driven and faith-based projects that further affordable housing development
  • If developed on public land, prioritize said groups and develop as 100% permanently affordable
• Ensure all parts of the Borough contribute their fair share of housing
  • Land Use: Borough President reserves right to re-file ULURP projects that the Borough President supports and were withdrawn before the approval process was complete

Objective 2 of 3: Support transit-oriented development

Recommendations:

• Support a Zoning Text Amendment to eliminate parking requirements within a quarter mile of subway or other regional rail service
• Proactively plan land use decisions around transit expansions, such as Interborough Express (IBX), and Select Bus Service (SBS)/express bus services
• Revisit Transit Zones in the Zoning Resolution to include all areas of Brooklyn that are within ½ Mile walking distance of subway or other rail services

Objective 3 of 3: Preserve and improve affordable and public housing

Recommendations:

• Support development of more supportive housing to help address the homelessness crisis
• Support full funding of capital repair needs in public housing
• Combat predatory real estate practices by ending the tax lien sale
• Create options for affordable housing preservation in properties with municipal debt
• Designate all of Brooklyn as a Cease & Desist Zone
• Support tenants through continued support of the City’s Right to Counsel program
• Support zoning reforms that facilitate completely electrified buildings with zero-emissions

Objective 1 of 2: Maintain and support manufacturing land

Recommendations:

• Incentivize entire wind energy supply chain to locate along Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront
• Expand Zoning Resolution special permit that allows property owners in M1-2 zones to build up to 4.8 FAR with mandatory inclusion of 20% manufacturing space beyond Williamsburg and potentially to other M districts
• Secure workforce commitments to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the trades and for commercial tenants
  • Advocacy: Support rent regulation for commercial tenants

Objective 2 of 2: Support job seekers and employers seeking career growth

Recommendations:

• Continue to fund and expand Summer Youth Employment Program
• Identify critical industry partners to establish workforce training that provides pathways to high-paying jobs

Objective 1 of 2: Ensure Brooklyn is a welcoming place to people with all abilities
Metric: Increase the number of accessible subway stations in Brooklyn

Recommendations:

• Ensure MTA station improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Objective 2 of 2: Raise the standards for accessibility

Recommendations:

• Ensure all Brooklyn sidewalks are ADA accessible
• Include ADA design elements in all public projects