Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 3
Committee: Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises
The Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, chaired by Council Member Farah N. Louis, announced that three scheduled votes were laid over (a sidewalk cafe application and two rezonings) and held two public hearings. The first hearing concerned a rezoning at 1455 Coney Island Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn (Council Member Felder's district) to facilitate a long-term care facility; testimony focused on the breakdown of the contract between the property owner (Centers Healthcare) and the nonprofit intended operator (Sephardic Nursing Home), with the applicant's representative stating negotiations continue before the Council's November deadline. The second hearing concerned a residential rezoning at 135-27 Sapphire Street in Lindenwood, Queens (Council Member Ariola's district), a 268-unit building with mandatory inclusionary housing; the applicant team described flood-zone design measures and coordination with the Jewel Streets planning process. Council Member Ariola expressed full support. No members of the public testified on either item, both hearings were closed, and the items were laid over.
0:24 Webinar started.
0:24 Quiet please thank you good
0:27 morning and welcome to the
0:29 subcommittee on zoning on
0:30 franchises at this time please s
0:34 . Oh so please do not approach
0:36 the dais if you have any
0:37 questions please ask johann
0:38 and one of us is sergeant at
0:40 arms with him we assist you
0:41 are ready to begin.
0:44 Good morning and welcome t
0:46 oa meeting of the subcommittee
0:49 on zoning and franchises I'm
0:51 council lewis chair of the
0:53 subcommittee this morning we
0:54 are joined by council members
0:56 and carnations jay Sanchez
0:58 minority leader Carr and
1:00 councilman Felder.
1:02 Today we are scheduled t
1:02 stenner is today we ares
1:19 scheduled to vote on three
1:21 proposals and hold two publi
1:22 chearings however the following
1:25 votes are laid over until
1:26 . Tomorrow the sidewalk cafe
1:28 application for taro De
1:30 esquinas and corp formally
1:33 doing business as cali tay
1:35 harrah's bakery and restaurant
1:36 and Council Member Thomas
1:39 henry's district hundred 58 6
1:42 northern boulevard make makes
1:43 use rezoning and council
1:44 hong's district 21- 31 2 46
1:48 avenue mixed use residential
1:49 rezoning and council number
1:51 ones district we will proceed
1:53 with the scheduled public
1:54 hearings on the following
1:56 proposals 14 55 coney island
2:00 avenue community facility
2:01 rezoning and councilman
2:03 felder's district 1 35 2 2
2:07 0sapphire street and a
2:08 residential rezoning and
2:09 Council Member areola tze
2:10 district please note that
2:11 yesterday we held a public
2:14 hearing as scheduled relating
2:16 to the sidewalk cafe
2:17 application followed by taro
2:19 De esquina and y also noticed
2:25 today for a hearing so if
2:27 there are any members of the
2:28 public who would like t
2:29 otestify today about the
2:32 sidewalk cafe application
2:32 please fill out a speaker's
2:34 card and notify one of the
2:35 sergeant at arms if you are
2:37 online and would like t
2:38 otestify about the sidewalk
2:40 cafe application please use
2:42 the raised hand function and a
2:45 team member from the
2:46 subcommittee will respond and
2:47 I will now go over today's
2:49 meeting
2:50 . Procedures this meeting is
2:51 being held in hybrid format
2:52 members of the public who wish
2:54 to testify and testify in
2:56 person or via zoom members of
2:57 the public wishing to testify
2:59 remotely register by visiting
3:01 the New York City Council web
3:04 site www dot counsel dot dot
3:07 backslash land use to sign up
3:09 or for those of you here in
3:11 person please see one of the
3:12 sergeant at arms to prepare a
3:14 speaker card members of the
3:15 public also view a live stream
3:17 broadcast of this meeting at
3:20 the council's website
3:21 . When you are called to
3:23 testify before the
3:24 subcommittee if you are
3:26 joining us remotely you remain
3:28 muted until recognized by
3:29 myself to speak when you're
3:31 are recognized your microphone
3:32 will be unm you'd it we will
3:34 limit public testimony to tw
3:36 ominutes per witness if you
3:37 have additional testimony that
3:38 you would like the
3:39 subcommittee to consider or if
3:40 you have written testimony
3:42 that you would like to submit
3:43 instead of appearing in person e
3:46 testimony I counseled at nyc
3:49 dot gov written testimony be
3:50 submitted up to three days
3:51 after the hearing is closed
3:53 please indicate the l you
3:54 number and or project name and
3:55 the subject line of your email s
3:59 joining us remotely remain in
4:00 the meeting until excused by
4:02 the chair as council members
4:04 have questions lastly for
4:05 everyone attending today's
4:06 meeting this is a government
4:08 proceeding and decorum must be
4:09 observed at all times members
4:11 of the public are axed not t
4:12 ospeak during the meeting
4:13 unless you are testifying the
4:15 witness table is reserved for
4:17 people who are called t
4:18 otestify and no video recording
4:21 or photography is allowed from
4:22 the witness table
4:23 . Further members of the
4:24 public not present audio or
4:27 video recordings as testimony
4:28 but you submit of such
4:31 recordings to the sergeant at
4:33 arms for inclusion into the
4:34 hearing record we will now
4:36 move on to the hearings that
4:37 are scheduled for today
4:39 beginning with the public
4:41 hearing on pre considered use
4:43 regarding 455 coney island
4:45 avenue a community facility
4:47 rezoning proposal in midwood
4:49 brooklyn and Council Member
4:51 Felder the applicant is is
4:52 seeking to develop a long term
4:53 care facility for seniors for
4:55 anyone wishing to testify
4:57 regarding this proposal
4:58 remotely if you have not
4:59 already done so you must
5:00 register online by visiting
5:02 the council's web site at
5:04 counsel dot dot gov backslash
5:06 land use for anyone with us in
5:09 person please he wanted a
5:09 subject the sergeant at arms
5:11 to submit a speaker card if
5:13 you prefer to submit written
5:14 testimony you can also do so
5:15 by emailing it till nine years
5:17 at counsel that dot gov
5:21 standard is Council Member
5:22 felda does not have remarks so
5:25 we're going to move on and I
5:27 will now call the applicant
5:28 panel for this proposal which
5:30 consists of Eric politic and
5:34 anthony hats you is anthony
5:36 here but why don't you come
5:39 down
5:39 all righte.
5:45 . And anthony you're going t
5:46 ostate your name because I
5:47 cannot pronounce you lasting
5:49 my my apologize
5:50 . Council you please
5:50 administer the oath.
5:54 Good morning could you
5:55 please raise your right hand
5:56 and state your name for the
5:59 record Eric poulet nick
6:00 anthony how did you learn
6:02 . Could you could you say that
6:05 benefit anthony hats.
6:07 Thank you now we know how t
6:09 osay your name um could you
6:11 swear to tell the truth and
6:12 nothing but the truth in your
6:14 testimony this morning and in
6:15 response to Council Member
6:16 questions I do thank you
6:21 . Thank you you begin your
6:23 testimony which is limited t
6:25 o10 minutes at eight minutes
6:27 you should start wrapping up
6:29 when you begin your
6:30 presentation please restate
6:31 your name and the name of your
6:33 organization you begin good
6:35 morning councilmember thank
6:36 you very much for making the
6:37 time to share this committee
6:38 and good morning to everybody
6:40 else that's here and we thank
6:41 you very much and good morning
6:44 to the councilman shelter and
6:46 anybody who celebrated for the
6:49 past week
6:50 . We're here today on behalf
6:51 of a long term care facility
6:53 located at 1455 coney island
6:56 avenue you can see it up on
6:57 the screen there it's a
6:59 rezoning proposed from an r
7:00 five to a to dash dash three
7:03 from r our 5/ 2 2 3 2 a c 4 2
7:08 5 d the rezoning would
7:09 facilitate the creation of a
7:11 long term care facility at the
7:12 property which is historically
7:14 been utilized as a long term
7:16 care facility which was
7:17 demolished a few years ago
7:18 that was in a previously
7:20 repurposed bowling alley that
7:21 was then turned into a long
7:22 term care facility that
7:24 structure was demolished about
7:26 five years ago and a lot has
7:27 been vacant since then we've
7:29 been pursuing this rezoning
7:30 which just happens to coincide
7:31 with the city's recent
7:33 announcement of a study of
7:35 coney island avenue which is
7:36 long overdue and would seek t
7:38 orezone the property as I said
7:39 from an r five to a c four or
7:41 five d you can go to the next
7:42 slide please whoever is
7:43 controlling the screen.
7:45 This slide on the right hand
7:46 side shows you what we are
7:49 seeking to do if it were to be
7:50 approved you could see on the
7:51 right hand side it would
7:53 facilitated nine story 95 foot
7:55 tall long term care facility
7:57 designed by anthony it would
7:58 be a hundred 57000 square feet t
8:04 would have 300 beds to hundre
8:06 d40 which would be skilled
8:08 nursing beds and 60 assisted
8:10 living beds there would be 2
8:12 8parking spaces I should note
8:13 that when we originally
8:15 prepared the application we
8:16 presented it to councilmember
8:18 Felder and he was a concerned
8:20 about the number of parking
8:21 spaces which we increased at
8:23 his suggestion as well as a
8:24 few other design changes that
8:26 he put into the proposal.
8:27 That are here today in front
8:28 of you I should also note
8:29 we've met with community
8:31 planning board 14 who
8:32 supported the application
8:33 . Next slide please the next
8:34 slide shows you the zoning map
8:36 change which is the essence of
8:37 what we're here for obviously
8:39 you can see on the zoning map
8:41 on both of them the left side
8:43 is existing the right side is
8:45 proposed adjacent to the
8:46 property the top right is an r
8:47 seven a district it's
8:49 analogous to what we're
8:51 proposing here I should also
8:52 note that the c a 2 2 distric
8:57 tthat coney island avenue
8:59 allows for buildings taller
9:00 and larger than what we are
9:02 proposing here and in fact
9:03 most people in the
9:03 neighborhood will be familiar
9:06 with the medical building that
9:07 was built at avenue l and
9:08 coney island avenue up that is
9:10 substantially larger than what
9:11 we are even seeking here so
9:13 the a two allows for very very
9:15 buildings up and what we're
9:17 seeking is consistent with the
9:19 built character and what's
9:20 around us up next slide it
9:21 just sort of shows you
9:24 everything I've already spoken
9:25 about it can go one more slide
9:27 forward please the next slide
9:28 slide five just gives you a
9:29 good view of the context of
9:32 the neighborhood the site
9:33 itself is now vacant there are
9:35 no cars or trucks being parked
9:36 on it you can see to the left
9:39 of us is an existing
9:41 commercial residential
9:41 building with ground floor
9:42 commercial and that extends
9:43 pretty much entirely up the
9:45 . Block to the left of us on
9:47 avenue k we are simply a
9:49 continuation of that larger
9:50 density on our site and I
9:52 could point to a finger punch
9:55 sheet seven please page seven
9:58 shows you what the building
9:59 will look like from an
10:01 elevation perspective you
10:02 could see that the first floor
10:04 will be lobbying the amenity
10:06 space the cellar and the sub
10:07 cellar will be parking and
10:10 accessory space and then the
10:11 long term care facility is
10:12 located up top
10:13 . The next slide please and
10:15 I'll pause on the next slide
10:16 and stop the conversation
10:17 because I think I've given you
10:19 enough information for you t
10:20 oact on things but if you'd
10:21 like more I'd be happy t
10:22 ocontinue on the next slide is
10:24 relevant because I mentioned a
10:25 few moments ago the taller
10:27 medical bills outside slide
10:29 eight I apologize where you
10:29 are it's not going to go this
10:31 slide is relevant because you
10:33 can see the building on the
10:34 right hand side of a hundred
10:36 48 feet tall that's the
10:37 medical building that's
10:38 allowed to be constructed as a
10:39 right and it's a two district
10:41 that shares with us.
10:42 The point that I'm simply
10:44 trying to raise through this
10:47 discussion is our rezoning
10:47 which is seeking to go to an r
10:50 seven equivalent is really
10:51 similar to what's around us as
10:53 far as the existing r seven
10:54 zoning and it's even smaller
10:55 than what the a two allows for y
11:00 presentation I guess I'll ask
11:02 whoever is controlling the
11:03 screen if you could just click
11:05 forward to the plans the
11:06 proposed plans which is after
11:09 page 15 and we could stop on
11:10 the rendering at the front so
11:11 everybody could see how
11:12 beautiful the building is up
11:14 there you go the buildings
11:16 really proposed to be a
11:18 stunning building I dare say
11:19 one of the nicest buildings
11:20 that I've seen rendering
11:22 rendering for in coney island
11:23 in quite some time
11:24 . The middle part of it that
11:25 you're looking at is a
11:27 proposed atrium area where
11:28 they'll be common common area
11:29 for building residents so they
11:30 could be exposed to sunlight
11:32 they should catch great
11:33 westerly sunsets and things
11:34 like that let lights in light
11:36 light in make them feel like
11:38 they're living somewhere
11:39 that's part of their home
11:41 where they are now not coming
11:42 into an institution of any
11:43 sort and the rooftop on the
11:45 top right is beautifully well
11:46 landscaped with an outdoor
11:47 terrace area again for people
11:49 to have space to be outside
11:50 and the building is filled
11:51 with all sorts of other
11:53 different amenities including
11:54 a chapel including common
11:56 space including space for
11:57 recreation space for working
11:58 out all to give people the
12:00 chance to not only live in
12:01 this building as an assisted
12:02 living building but also have
12:03 it feel like a home and I'll
12:05 mention the final note is the
12:07 building is being proposed by
12:08 a not for profit they're not
12:11 for profit has been the one
12:12 pursuing the application along
12:13 with ownership of the property
12:15 there has been a bit of a
12:16 dispute between the two and
12:17 the last few weeks maybe some
12:18 people on the committee have
12:19 heard about that they are
12:20 working to resolve it so that
12:22 they're not for profit can
12:24 continue on and operate and
12:26 continue on build and operate
12:27 the premises and should that
12:30 not happened which everybody
12:31 is working towards and we're
12:32 hoping we'll use the full
12:33 europe time frame to let them
12:35 achieve that if that should
12:36 not be the case then the owner
12:37 of the property currently will
12:40 develop the property as a long
12:42 edesperately trying to save the
12:45 relationship with the not for
12:46 profit and I want to thank the
12:48 Council Member who has been
12:50 involved in discussions with
12:52 everybody in the midst of his
12:54 holiday as well as everybody
12:55 else who been involved to do
12:57 so up and we're hoping that
12:59 we'll have a resolution t
12:59 oreport to you at some point in
13:01 the future before this is over r
13:05 time
13:05 . All right thank you I have a
13:06 couple of questions before I
13:07 hand it over to councilman
13:08 Felder it is the subcommittees
13:10 understanding that this
13:11 project was initially proposed
13:14 as a nursing home but the
13:16 operator with whom the
13:17 applicant was going to partner
13:18 with as you just mentioned is