Breukelen Houses ( ), also known as

Breukelen Breukelen () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and tourist ...

or Brookline Projects, is a large

housing complex A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

maintained in

Canarsie, Brooklyn Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

, by the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

(NYCHA). Its main office is located at 618 East 108th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236. It is bounded by

Flatlands Avenue Flatlands Avenue is a major street in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It runs approximately east-west, from Avenue N and East 35th Street in Flatlands in the west to Forbell Street, east of Fountain Avenue in East New York, near the Brookl ...

, East 103rd Street, Williams Avenue and Stanley Avenue. The community sits on and consists of 1,595

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

units inside 30 structures, all of which are either three or seven

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

high. As of March 2008 the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

was estimated to be 4,038.

History

The Breukelen Houses gets its name from the Dutch in 1683, when present-day Brooklyn was known as Breukelen (named after the Dutch town of

). It later changed to Brockland, Brocklin, Brookline, and finally

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. The housing project borders the community of Flatlands to the southeast. In the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, there was a shortage of housing in

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

. Planning for the Breukelen development started in 1949. In August 1951, work started and was completed on October 31, 1952. In 1980, the development received $21.6 million from the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

to modernize its heating systems, external improvements, and apartments. In 2001 the NYCHA authorized $4.5 million in upgrades to Breukelen Houses. Residents enjoyed new fencing, walkways,

shrubbery A shrubbery, shrub border or shrub garden is a part of a garden where shrubs, mostly flowering species, are thickly planted. The original shrubberies were mostly sections of large gardens, with one or more paths winding through it, a less-rememb ...

, playgrounds, and updated lighting. In February 2007 the Breukelen Community Center opened its doors to the

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

as one of nine winter emergency “warming spots” in the city.

Capital needs

Officials of the

NYCHA The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

claim their woes are due to “chronic federal under-funding”. As a result, in recent years many residents within the Breukelen community have expressed fears of mass

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

and pending rent hikes. As of June 2007 the NYCHA held a deficit of over $200 million with little to no fiscal help from Albany (state capital) or

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in sight. Additionally, the NYCHA has lost $999 million between 2001 and 2008. In spite of it financial insufficiency, the NYCHA is not going to

privatize Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

housing. Instead they're selling surplus NYCHA land to the city's housing agency to develop affordable housing. They’ve also made staff and expense cuts and have more impending employee cutbacks in the works. Nevertheless, Julia Vitullo-Martin purports that a potential buyer offered up $1.3 billion for an area of

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

that might encompass some or all of Breukelen Houses. Furthermore,

Mayor Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

stated on a radio show in 2007 that public housing has to pay for itself. With the NYCHA’s perpetual debt and with pressures from private, city, state, and federal departments,

may in fact be in Breukelen’s future. In 2014, the Breukelen Houses topped the list of Brooklyn properties, and third-highest in the city in need of repair due to NYCHA's capital needs. The property had 897 non-current work orders, 44 outstanding Department of Buildings violations, and six outstanding Environmental Control Board violations.

References

{{reflist

External links

Fact sheet
Public housing in Brooklyn Residential buildings in Brooklyn Canarsie, Brooklyn 1952 establishments in New York City Residential buildings completed in 1952

History

Capital needs

See also

References

External links