Sarah Plowden Place has opened in East New York with 183 fully affordable homes for seniors, marking another milestone in the development of Nehemiah Spring Creek. Monadnock Development, East Brooklyn Congregations and Nehemiah HDFC celebrated the opening Sept. 16 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 890 Erskine St. The $135.9 million development provides homes for extremely low-income seniors and is intended to expand access to affordable housing in East New York. City Council Deputy Leader Chris Banks, state Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud, Assemblymember Nikki Lucas, representatives from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Housing Development Corporation, residents and community leaders attended the event. “Sarah Plowden Place represents what it means to honor the people who built this community while making sure they can continue to call it home,” said City Council Deputy Leader Chris Banks, who represents the 42nd Council District. “Our seniors have spent decades raising families, supporting their neighbors, strengthening our churches and helping shape East Brooklyn into the community we know today. They deserve the opportunity to remain here, surrounded by the people and places that mean so much to them.” The building is named for Queen Mother Sarah Plowden, a faith leader at St. Paul Community Baptist Church, community organizer and affordable housing advocate whose work has helped shape East Brooklyn for more than four decades. Designed by Bernheimer Architecture PLLC, Sarah Plowden Place includes an outdoor recreation area, gym, library, community room, elevator and card-operated laundry room. Apartments feature quartz countertops and stainless-steel appliances. The project was financed through HPD’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartment program and Housing Infrastructure Fund, tax-exempt bonds issued by HDC and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits syndicated by National Equity Fund. TD Bank provided construction financing and invested in the tax credit equity, with additional support from Santander and Chase. Sarah Plowden Place is part of the 45-acre Nehemiah Spring Creek transformation, which began with a 2006 groundbreaking. The first phase, completed in 2010, included 368 single-, two- and three-family homes. Monadnock Development and Nehemiah HDFC plan to continue their partnership on 1,380 additional affordable rental units. When completed, Nehemiah Spring Creek is expected to bring more than 2,000 housing units to East New York, along with retail and townhouse homeownership opportunities.

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In East New York, Brooklyn, signs of pride and progress are unmistakable. Rev. David Brawley of St. Paul Community Baptist Church believes the neighborhood has been able to turn around because “leaders, citizens, have imagination and are willing to do the work. Once known as the murder capital of New York City, the 75th police precinct had 126 murders in 1993. Last year, there were 12. For many residents, signs of economic development have brought new optimism. Now they hope the neighborhood’s comeback will continue under the next mayor. “As a pastor here in the East New York section of Brooklyn, every week it feels like I’ve got to say goodbye to members that I love because they can’t afford to live here,” Brawley told NY1. When he’s not in the pulpit, Brawley is focused on his other calling, building affordable housing in East New York. For 40 years, St. Paul has worked with East Brooklyn Congregations to transform parts of the community like Spring Creek. “This was a former landfill,” Brawley said. “Our leaders and our people saw more than garbage. We saw an opportunity to build affordable housing for the city of New York. There are 2,600 units here in this area.” Brawley hopes the next administration in City Hall comes in with a bold vision to build new homes that doesn’t leave longtime East New York residents priced out. “I would say to the next mayor that this is an urgent existential crisis that demands an urgent response,” he said. Along the New Lots Avenue corridor, residents Erica Townsend and Eleanor Pinckney shared their concerns about sanitation. “People are dumping,” Townsend said. “If you look down the street, you’ll see it’s bundles of garbage all along here, why?” Pinckney added. City Councilmember Chris Banks believes it’s important to continue “the upward trend in addressing quality-of-life issues.” Banks believes the next administration in City Hall should be attentive to the needs of NYCHA residents and public transportation in East New York.

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