A project that will bring a hotel and affordable housing to Arthur Ave. received full support from Community Board 6 last night in a public hearing ULURP vote.
Developer Harry Bajraktari of Bajraktari Management Corporation plans to develop a 145 room hotel on 188th Street and Arthur Avenue and a 7-story, 56-unit residential building on 188th Street and Hughes Avenue. He has plans to rezone the area from a residential zone to mixed residential and commercial zone.
Frank Franz, chairman of the housing committee, feels this will benefit the neighborhood.
“I’m very pleased that this project is going to be done by someone in the community,” Franz said. “It will update the character of the community.”
Not all of the attendees agreed with Franz.
Resident Jose Padilla feels there should be a moratorium on development until the pandemic is over. According to Padilla, the hotel is not good for CB 6 and questioned if politics is involved.
Voting on massive changes to a neighborhood must be held in public forums where people can attend in person and share input with the developer, he said.
“I feel this hearing should be placed on hold,” he said. “It is going to change the character of the neighborhood. It’s unfathomable that the future of our community will be here on Zoom.”
The project is now in the hands of Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
