St. Name Honors Hate Crime Victim

City Council Member Diana Reyna (at left) the brothers of the late Jose Sucuzhanay, Diego (at center) and Romel (second from right) attended last Wednesday's Brooklyn Community Board 4 meeting to ask that the advisory body recommend renaming Kossuth Place in memory of the hate crime victim who was fatally beaten last December. Also shown in this photo (from left to right) are Walter Sinche, director of the Ecuadorian International Alliance, and activist Jose Briones. Members of Brooklyn Community Board 4 unanimously threw their support to a proposal to rename a Bushwick street in memory of a recent hate crime victim during the advisory body's Feb. 18 meeting at the Hope Gardens Senior Center.

The board recommended approval of the plan to co-name Kossuth Place between Broadway and Bushwick avenues in honor of Jose Sucuzhanay, a local resident who died last December days after being brutally beaten by a group of assailants in the area.

Board members also criticized efforts by the owner of a former factory on Wyckoff Avenue recently converted into residential lofts to secure a variance legalizing the structure.

Remembering Jose

As previously reported, Jose Sucuzhanay was walking with his brother, Diego, along Kossuth Place at Bushwick Avenue early on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008 when they were assaulted by four men who allegedly shouted racial and homosexual epithets during the beating. Both victims are Ecuadorian.

Though Diego Sucuzhanay was able to flee from the attackers, Jose Sucuzhanay suffered a fractured skull and lost consciousness. He was brought by paramedics to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he died the following Friday, Dec. 12.

The attack sparked demonstrations by gay and Ecuadorian activists as well as community and civic leaders who called for the suspects to be brought to justice. As of press time, no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.

In the wake of Jose Sucuzhanay's death, his family requested that Board 4's Civic and Religious Committee consider a recommendation to rename the corner where he was fatally beaten in his memory, according to District Manager Nadine Whitted.

Following further consideration, she indicated, the committee suggested renaming the entire block of Kossuth Place to Broadway in Jose Sucuzhanay's memory.

"The importance is more than a local concern," she said. "It is essential to the protection of our community that we create landmarks to not forget tragedies like this."

Diego Sucuzhanay was joined by his brother, Romel, as well as activists Jose Briones and Walter Sinche and City Council Member Diana Reyna in speaking in favor of the renaming proposal.

"It is important for my family that the intersection where he was attacked carry his name," said Diego Sucuzhanay, who recalled that his fallen brother enjoyed living in Bushwick and had high hopes for the future. "It is important to remind the community that these types of attacks shouldn't be happening."

Echoing those thoughts was Council Member Reyna, who noted that the gesture of renaming the block would help the ongoing healing process the family is going through: "It will teach our youth how far hate can take us and the importance of not judging a person by whatever they appear to be."

Variance to legalize lofts

Richard Bass of the firm Herrick and Feinstein explained an application submitted by the owners of 70 Wyckoff Ave. (also known as the Wyckoff Terrace building) to the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) seeking a variance that would allow the building to legally maintain residential lofts.

Board 4 considered and approved a resolution in November 2007 recommending an application made by the owners to have the commercial property rezoned for residential purposes. Bass informed board members that the rezoning proposal was later withdrawn.

Originally purchased in 1998, according to a report filed by the Housing and Land Use Committee, the building was renovated "with the intention to lease it out to industrial and commercial tenants." As time went on, it was reported, the tenants who rented lofts were found to be using their workspaces as residences.

Since it is illegal to rent out commercial space for residential purposes, the attorney noted that the Department of Buildings has issued numerous violations to the building owners.

Bass cited a number of hardships which the owner claims to face, including the inability to rent out the building for commercial or industrial purposes. Used as of right, he noted, the owner would be required to evict the tenants of the 51 lofts, losing up to $3.5 million in rental income.

The physical structure of the building—including restricted access from the street, a lack of a loading dock and on-site parking—also render the building incapable of serving modern commercial or industrial purposes, Bass claimed.

Among those challenging the variance was Council Member Reyna, who said that the building's situation puts the city in a difficult spot. Though the area needs additional commercial space to attract more businesses, she noted, it would be precarious for the city to do so while evicting tenants at the Wyckoff Avenue structure.

"Industry wants to move in, but where does it move in if these buildings are lost?" Reyna said, noting that she feared the rezoning or variance of the site would set a bad precedent. "But I have to be the bad guy now and reward bad behavior" on the owner's part since families are now living in the building, she added.

"A self-created hardship [by the owners] is not a hardship," the legislator said.

The variance is scheduled to come before the BSA at a public hearing on Tuesday, Mar. 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the BSA headquarters located at 40 Rector St. in lower Manhattan.

Bushwick Pride Parade

District Manager Whitted announced plans for the third-annual Bushwick Pride Parade, which is scheduled to take place on Brooklyn- Queens (Anniversary) Day on Thursday, June 4. The theme of the parade is, "Bushwick Honors Fallen Heroes," and will honor community leaders, activists and crime victims who died in the area in recent years.

The march will step off at 11 a.m. in front of the Hope Gardens Community Center located at 422 Central Avenue. The parade route will be as follows:

• Central Avenue to Covert Street;

• Covert Street from Central to Bushwick avenues;

• Bushwick Avenue from Covert to Cedar streets;

• Cedar Street from Bushwick to Central avenues; and,

• Central Avenue from Cedar Street back to the community center.

It was noted that the Sucuzhanay family has been invited by the Civic and Religious Committee—which organizes the parade—to serve as grand marshals.

Other news

The board is currently in the process of developing its own liquor license applications to keep track of businesses serving and/or selling alcohol in the Bushwick area, noted Barbara Smith, who chairs the board's Public Safety Committee.

Once finalized, all individuals seeking a liquor permit in Bushwick with the State Liquor Authority (SLA) will be required to answer questions asked by the advisory body on the application. Smith noted that the responses will be used by the board to determine whether or not to recommend approval or denial of an application. The SLA, by law, makes the final determination on issuing liquor licenses.

Chairperson Julie Dent encouraged local residents to call their local elected officials urging them to oppose budget changes that would transfer funding for kindergarten programs run by day care centers to the Department of Education. The measure, she indicated, would serve to overwhelm public schools as well as burden centers operating universal pre-kindergarten and Head Start programs.

Whitted noted that the board has asked the NYPD about the status of a vacant lot located at the confluence of Myrtle Avenue, Cedar Street and DeKalb Avenue, which was recently found to have a broken fence. The property was transferred to the department in 1995 for use as a parking lot for nearby Patrol Borough Brooklyn North. The district manager hopes the agency will have the damaged fence fixed as soon as possible.

Brooklyn Community Board 4 generally meets on the third Wednesday each month at 6 p.m. at Hope Gardens Senior Center, located at 195 Linden St. in Bushwick. For more info, call the board's office at 1- 718-628-8400.