Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of the Brooklyn community group Uprose that has been fighting the rezoning, agreed. She found the input of members from outside the district and borough on the Industry City project incredibly troubling. “I think it’s stunning that elected officials from other communities undermined the leadership of a council member doing exactly what his community has been asking for,” Yeampierre said. “It isn’t as if Menchaca (made) this decision easily.” She added, though, that member deference was only preferable when the member actually listened to what the community wanted. While some parts of Sunset Park have supported the rezoning, the local community board partially rejected the application. “You’ve got the council member standing with the community, and people saying, ‘Hey, you know what, no, we know what’s better for your community than your community knows,’” Yeampierre said, questioning whether this would have happened if Sunset Park were not a community of color.
Industry City and the future of member deference