It’s a dog-eat-park world out there. That is, of course, if we’re to take the Fort Greene Park Conservancy for its word (and, just so we’re clear, there is, so far, nothing to suggest we shouldn’t) about the impact of a proposed high-rise residential tower at the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues. According to the Conservancy, the 72-story structure planned for 395 Flatbush (aka Brooklyn Tower’s not terribly ugly prospective neighbor), threatens to cast new and unwelcome shadows upon its vast, majestic, well-manicured meadows and bring even more dogs to a park that saw an explosion in four-legged foot traffic during the pandemic.
“A lot of people got pets during the pandemic and we all love dogs, but the amount of people and dogs that use Fort Greene Park is astronomical,” the conservancy’s executive director, Rosamond Fletcher, told Gothamist. The Conservancy estimates the 1,263-unit building could draw up to 1,000 or more new dogs to a park that’s already a paradise for local pups, with more than 1,300 dogs registered in the zip code the building would land in, on top of the 400-plus in the neighborhood surrounding the park (though, this does feel like an odd callout for a park that holds a dog costume contest on or around Halloween every year).
The new shade, on the other hand, does seem like a legitimate concern for the park. Though the new building will be five blocks west of Fort Greene, the 65 stories developers Rabina and Park Tower Group plan to add to the 53-year-old 7-floor building over the Dekalb Avenue subway entrance are poised to throw quite a shadow over the park, per renderings submitted by the Conservancy (see below). The group argues this would only bolster competition for its sun-splashed expanses, which support camps, classes, and a range of community activities, and draw thousands to Fort Greene every weekend.
“ We just need the team to be as creative as possible and make sure they’ve really looked at all options,” Fletcher added. “ There’s a real opportunity to be a model of taking leadership and thinking about how to support the cherished green spaces that everyone uses.”
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