Opponents of a Brooklyn redevelopment project packed a Community Board One meeting last night in Williamsburg, drowning out a presentation by the city’s Housing Preservation and Development office, in a battle that could influence City Council primaries in the 33rd and 34th districts this September. Roughly 50 protesters, armed with signs and a bullhorn, chanted “Open Process” and “Shut It Down” inside a community room at the Swingin’ 60s Senior Center. After calling for order several times, board chairman Vincent Abate—presiding over what would be his last meeting after nearly 30 years on the board–allowed the protest and presentation to continue simultaneously. The crowd seemed to feed on the disorder, growing even louder as a series of HPD representatives tried to outline the proposed plan, which would rezone approximately 20 acres of land near the border of Broadway and Flushing Avenues at the borders of Williamsburg, Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
