Formerly an industrial hub highlighted by a Pfizer plant, the 31 acres that comprise the Broadway Triangle at the border of Brooklyn's Williamsburg, Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant sections have remained largely vacant for the past few decades. The Bloomberg administration's plans call for the creation of 1,800 housing units, 800 of which will be affordable, along with 100,000 square feet of retail and 35,000 square feet of community space.

A hotly contested area over the years as various community groups vied for a say in reconfiguring it, the Broadway Triangle entered the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure last June. The City Planning Commission approved the rezoning in October and the City Council's Land Use Committee gave it the nod earlier this month.

In a statement, State Sen. Martin Malave Dilan, whose district includes the Broadway Triangle, says the neighborhood provides "a unique opportunity to extend quality affordable homes to hundreds of families and reinvest in the nearby community. After many attempts to rejuvenate the area, this is an opportunity we must not pass on."