Crown Heights, 1–ProCro 0
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D–Fort Greene) chalked up his first success from his proposed bill to curtail “fake” neighborhood names this week as real estate giant Corcoran agreed to modify what he called its “misleading” advertising practices that were designed to make the neighborhood more desirable to “affluent New Yorkers.”
Corcoran Chief Executive Officer Pamela Liebman agreed to move the eastern boundary of Prospect Heights back to its “correct border,” and also agreed to amend several “Prospect Heights” listings so that they accurately reflect their true location: Crown Heights.
Traditional boundaries of Prospect Heights are Washington Avenue to the east, Eastern Parkway to the south, Flatbush Avenue to the west, and Atlantic Avenue to the north. But Corcoran pushed the eastern boundary to Bedford Avenue — squarely in Crown Heights.
“This misrepresentation appears deliberately designed to artificially inflate housing prices in the Crown Heights community to the detriment of both working families who reside in the neighborhood and the prospective residents who are being deceived,” Jeffries told the company.
“The borders of New York City’s neighborhoods are often debated to the point of confusion,” Liebman said. “We were happy to comply with Assemblyman Jeffries’s request and appreciate his efforts on behalf of his district.”
Jeffries will introduce his “Neighborhood Integrity Act” today. The bill seeks bar brokers from concocting new neighborhood names or rebrand a neighborhood to make a fast buck.
One such name — ProCro, or Prospect Heights-Crown Heights — has drawn particular ire from the lawmaker and constituents.
