By Joe Maniscalco
Maybe next month. That’s the word for all those waiting for the Department of City Planning to unveil a long-awaited downzoning study of Brighton Beach. In February, Councilmember Mike Nelson told Community Board 13 that a concrete plan to downzone Brighton Beach would be unveiled this month. But March is nearly over and still there is no downzoning plan. Neighborhood residents clamoring for the changes say that greater protections are needed to stem the tide of luxury high-rise development. As new development continues apace, the aging wood-frame bungalows slumbering in the shadows of the new buildings between Neptune and Oceanview avenues have been reduced to little more than tinderboxes waiting to be set ablaze. The rash of bungalow fires stretches all the way back to last year and neighborhood residents are worried. Several unidentified suspects have been arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into the troubling spate of deliberately-set fires. The latest suspicious fire to strike the neighborhood’s narrow lanes and walks happened just last Thursday on Brighton 5 Walk. “Lately, we’ve been down here a lot,” said a fire battalion chief at the scene. No one was hurt in the mid-afternoon conflagration that consumed yet another one of Brighton Beach’s tiny 20-by-40-foot bungalows. Firefighters had the main body of the fire knocked out by about 4 p.m., but they had to stretch three fire hoses to do it. “I think it is suspicious,” said Riaz Anjum, who lives directly across the street from the scene of last week’s blaze. “People sell and then you get fire.” The house involved in last Thursday’s blaze – like all those that have preceded it – was vacant at the time. “It is not good for our neighbors,” said Anjum. “People are scared.” Borough President Marty Markowitz called Brighton Beach’s bungalow district a “danger” when he toured the neglected area five years ago. “The owners should do something with it or give it up. What’s the use of sitting on property and not doing something with it?” he said at the time. Elan Peleg filed for and received a demolition permit from the Department of Buildings a day after the blaze at 29 Brighton 5 Walk. Community board notification was waived along with 19 other points on the DOB’s demolition checklist. City Planning says that it is actively engaged in a lot-by-lot analysis of approximately 35 blocks in Brighton Beach in order to preserve the scale of the community while also allowing for “appropriate growth.” The formal public review process of that study isn’t expected to begin until the end of 2008.
