So, I'm curious; what has happened over the last year here?:
< http://home.powertech.no/festus/j/jwe/brook.shtml
Watchtower Inquiry
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The following is an article from a classy new magazine for Brooklyn, "Brooklyn Bridge". I don't have a scanner, so please excuse typos.
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Periodical: Brooklyn Bridge
Date: September 1996
Section: Land Rush
Article: "Real Estate of the First Estate"
Author: James Bradley
"For years, many residents in the neighborhoods of downtown Brooklyn have had an useasy relationship with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Since 1909, the world headquarters of the religious group has been located in Columbia Heights; today, the Witnesses own some 23 residential buildings. On the one hand, they have turned many lackluster buildings into shiny palaces, beautifying the neighborhood in the process. On the other hand, the Witnesses have been accused of jeopardizing Brooklyn's historical comminities."
"In recent years, the Jehovah's Witnesses have expanded their real estate savvy to the industrial neighborhoods surrounding the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, and that has made many of the area's inhabitants uneasy. In 1994, the religious group bought and razed the entire block bordering Jay, Bridge, Front and York streets. The three acre site, once consisting of factories and a grade school, is now a huge, fenced-in patch of dirt. In addition, the former Flexi-Craft factory on Front Street was purchased by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (the Witnesses' formal name) in the fall of 1995. Other recent Watchtower projects in the area include a new 30-story hotel, a recreational center and a printing plant. (All the Jehovah's Witnesses properties are used for the group only.)"
"Now the embattled inhabitants at 195-201 Front Street fear that the Witnesses are eyeing their building next. "They seem to be taking over the whole neighborhood and turning it into Jehovah's Witnessville," says resident Bill Nogosek."
"What concerns these tenants is that their landlord, Martin Prince, has been trying to evict them for years. Prince, the president of DLX Industries, a vinyl manufacturer that operates on the gound, third, and fourth floors of the building, maintains he wants the residents out so he can expand his business. But the tenants say their landlord is interested in the additional millions he can reap by selling a resident-free building to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Prince bought the building in 1981, but many residents have living there since 1977 and are protected by the state's loft laws."
"Prince has filed several lawsuits over the years to kick the residents out, including one that is still pending. Last year he told "The New York Times" that his tenants are "animals" who "should be kept in cages." Considerably less voluble in an interview with "Brooklyn Bridge", Prince says, simply, "Residential tenants are an impediment to business." He claims that this building is "not for sale," but residents are skeptical."
"A representative of the Jehovah's Witnesses refused to confirm that the group wants to purchase the building. "We might be interested, but I can't say at this point," say George Couch, vice president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. But Couch concedes that the Witnesses have major plans for the area: "Any organization that's growing as fast as we are has to look at expansion.""
"The cluster of turn-of-the-century buildings in this area house more than 6,600 people in a variety of trades--manufacturing, the arts, wholesale, storage--plus government and non-profit groups. In fact, job growth has increased by 25 percent during the past 13 years, and some fear that the Witnesses' real estate plans will damage the area's unique economic vitality."
"So Comminity Board 2 has begun working on a 197-a plan, which will outline a comprehensive vision for the neighborhood. Paul DiLeo, chair of the 197-a Work Group, knows this will not be an easy task. "I don't have illusions that we can achieve nirvana," he says. "But there's a lot of unnecessary conflict because people aren't talking and trying to find solutions. That's what we're trying to do."" ----James Bradley
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