Buck the worst NIMBY
Absurdly, the fate of Brooklyn apartments blueprinted for hundreds of poor and homeless people remains in doubt at this eleventh hour before key City Council votes. Just weeks away from being term-limited out of office, Councilwoman Darlene Mealy hasn’t budged from opposition to the building called Edwin’s Place, on the false grounds that it amounts to a transient shelter — even though Community Board 16, Borough President Eric Adams and the City Planning Commission all support the project slated for a city-owned Brownsville lot.
If only development could outwait Mealy — but delay will cause key funding to evaporate. Councilmen Rafael Salamanca, Ydanis Rodriguez, Andy Cohen and Mark Treyger, who sit beside Mealy on a subcommittee set to vote Tuesday, must buck the informal Council rule that gives local members veto power over projects.
Conspire with Mealy to kill Edwin’s Place, and they will worsen the city’s homelessness plague.