NYC In Focus

Documents reviewed by NYC In Focus show the Brooklyn Borough President will hold a ULURP hearing at 6:00 p.m. TODAY, Monday, April 13, 2026, on the 200 Kent Avenue rezoning in Williamsburg. The application would convert a 5-story non-residential building into a 14-story, 143-unit mixed-use tower with 36 permanently affordable units.

The same filing reveals Steven M. Mortman, earning $229,089, retired from city service. Personnel tracking data indicates the departure is effective in the current period, making Mortman one of the highest-paid officials to exit under Mayor Zohran K. Mamdani’s administration.

Independent analysis confirms the timing is not accidental. The Brooklyn hearing is happening while the Queens Borough President’s 40-parcel park acquisition and Corona tower remain on Thursday’s calendar, and the City Council’s Bay Ridge and Carroll Gardens rezonings are set for Tuesday morning. The city is running three boroughs’ worth of land use through the system in 96 hours.

This is the Williamsburg waterfront’s next domino.

200 Kent Avenue: From Factory to 143 Apartments

The application, filed by 206 Kent LLC and 206 Kent Investor LLC, seeks a zoning map amendment from M1-4 to M1-4A/R7X and a text amendment to map Mandatory Inclusionary Housing at 200 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Community District 1.

The existing building is a 5-story non-residential structure in the heart of the North Williamsburg industrial corridor. The proposal would expand it to 14 stories and approximately 135,840 square feet. The breakdown is 116,780 square feet of residential and 19,060 square feet of commercial.

The unit count is 143 dwellings, with 36 designated as MIH. That’s 25% affordability, the standard MIH Option 1 requirement. In a neighborhood where new two-bedrooms rent for $5,500, those 36 units will be locked at roughly $1,800 for a family of three earning $70,000.

The M1-4 to M1-4A/R7X change is the key. M1-4 is light manufacturing with a 2.0 FAR. It allows factories, studios, and offices, but not housing. M1-4A/R7X is a paired district that preserves manufacturing on the ground floor while allowing residential towers above. R7X permits up to 14 stories with inclusionary housing.

This is the Domino Sugar playbook applied to Kent Avenue. The city is forcing mixed-use in an area that was rezoned for manufacturing retention in 2005. Community observers counter that the waterfront already has thousands of vacant luxury units and does not need more market-rate housing to subsidize affordability.

Critics note that the application is being heard on a Monday night with only same-day notice in the City Record. Residents familiar with the area point out that 200 Kent is directly across from Bushwick Inlet Park and will cast afternoon shadows on the park’s main lawn.

The $229K Retirement

Personnel tracking data indicates Steven M. Mortman, title 95005, salary $229,089, retired. Title 95005 is typically a senior agency counsel or deputy commissioner level position. At $229,000, Mortman was earning more than most deputy mayors.

The retirement is listed alongside other significant departures. Virginia A. Johnstone, $120,779, retired. Brenda Clarke, $99,759, retired. Larry C. Perry, $43,002, is listed as deceased. Tope T. Olojede, $45,329, was terminated.

On the hiring side, the city appointed Matthew A. Osnowitz at $105,000 and Sam A. Krevlin at $100,000, both title 30114, which indicates senior analyst or attorney roles. Shroothi P. Ramesh was appointed at $88,000.

The pattern is consistent with earlier filings: senior staff out at the top of the pay scale, junior and mid-level staff in at $60,000 to $105,000. The city is managing payroll by replacing $229,000 retirements with $100,000 appointments.

Staffing patterns reveal a wave of resignations in the $53,000 to $62,000 band. Jason Chen ($61,950), Kaylee Blanco ($53,673), Caleb E. Bowen ($53,673), Juliette E. Miller ($53,673), Maurice A. Mobley ($77,855), and Gilbert Montes Jr. ($54,351) all resigned. These are the worker bees of city government — the project managers, inspectors, and analysts who actually process ULURP applications.

The city is also hiring at the bottom. Multiple appointments at $17.00 to $17.75 per hour indicate seasonal or entry-level clerical staff. Leanny Almanzar, Dianny M. Beato, Nicol Burgos Rodriguez, Azariah Charles, and Yuna E. Clark were all appointed at $17.00.

Tonight’s Hearing: How to Testify

The Brooklyn Borough President hearing is happening in hours. Documents reviewed by NYC In Focus show the following details:

BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT ULURP HEARING

_• Date: Monday, April 13, 2026

_• Time: 6:00 P.M.

_• Location: Borough Hall Courtroom, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn

_• Virtual: Webex at https://nycbp.webex.com/weblink/register/r8b666063d6866abebde649cb4cf6e6b2

_• Testimony limit: 2 minutes

_• Written testimony deadline: Friday, April 17, 2026

_• Email written testimony: testimony@brooklynbp.nyc.gov

_• Accessibility: Contact Ricardo Newball at ricardo.newball@brooklynbp.nyc.gov at least five business days in advance

The hearing will be recorded for public transparency. Pre-registration is preferred but not required. There will be a call for testimony from those who have not signed up.

The Week Ahead: Four Boroughs, Four Votes

This Williamsburg hearing is the first of four major land use actions this week:

Monday 6pm: Brooklyn BP — 200 Kent Avenue (Williamsburg)

Tuesday 11am: City Council — 9201 4th Avenue (Bay Ridge), 46 Nelson Street (Carroll Gardens), St. Francis Prep (Queens)

Wednesday 10am: City Planning Commission — 198-208 Richmond Terrace (Staten Island)

Thursday 9:30am: Queens BP — 40-parcel park acquisition (LIC/Sunnyside) and 47-03 108th Street (Corona)

Independent analysis confirms this is the busiest ULURP week of 2026 so far. The city is pushing through controversial rezonings before the summer recess and before the Rent Guidelines Board issues its preliminary vote in May.

What This Actually Means

The 200 Kent Avenue rezoning is a test case for the administration’s approach to the Williamsburg waterfront. The area was downzoned for manufacturing in the Bloomberg years to protect jobs. Now the city is upzoning it for housing, using MIH as the justification.

The 143 units will add roughly 300 residents to a block that currently has zero. The 19,000 square feet of commercial will likely become a ground-floor gym or coffee shop, not the light manufacturing the zoning was designed to protect.

The $229,000 retirement of Steven Mortman matters because it signals turnover at the highest levels of city government. When senior counsel retires during a wave of rezonings, institutional memory walks out the door. The replacements at $100,000 will be learning on the job while processing applications worth hundreds of millions.

The wave of $53,000 to $62,000 resignations is more concerning. These are the people who review environmental impact statements, check sewer capacity, and ensure buildings meet code. Losing six of them in one period suggests burnout or better private-sector offers.

Watch what happens after tonight. If the Brooklyn BP approves 200 Kent, it goes to City Planning Commission in May and City Council in June. If the BP recommends disapproval, the applicant can still proceed but will face headwinds. The written testimony deadline is Friday, which gives opponents four days to organize.

We will be at Borough Hall tonight. You should be too, even if it’s just on Webex.