Brooklyn's Hannah Senesh School Drops Controversial Plan to Expand into Protected Garden

The Hannah Senesh Day School has announced to parents that it will not pursue its controversial plan to expand into the courtyard next to its building at Smith Street and First Place, according to the Pardon Me For Asking blog.

The courtyards -- or gardens -- in Carroll Gardens are protected by a 160-year-old law that states that the courtyards can not be built on (OR used for parking, as is presently the case).

Kenneth Fisher was paid $7,500 by the school to lobby in 2008 for the "acquisition of a lot currently owned by the City of New York." Bill de Blasio had planned to introduce a bill to amend "old Brooklyn Law" (without community input) to allow the Hannah Senesh School to build in the courtyard, and Carroll Gardeners were furious at the "sell out."

Fisher told the Brooklyn Eagle in December, "I specifically noted, and invited the participants to take a look when the meeting was over, that the lot in question is a fenced parking area with a wall on the neighbor's property at the western end. It is not a garden.”

Maybe something needs to be done about that?

More juicy details at PMFA.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

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