Our first episode takes listeners to Crown Heights, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in central Brooklyn, where some residents fear that two proposed residential towers will block the sunlight upon which the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s greenhouses rely. Rents are rising fast in Crown Heights, and affordable housing is increasingly hard to find, but will community members welcome more housing even if it may come at the expense of a thriving botanic garden? Episode Note: The Spice Factory proposal discussed in this episode falls under the New York City’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program, which requires a portion of units built in rezoned parcels to be set aside as affordable housing. However the 50 % subsidized affordable development proposed at the Spice Factory site exceeds the MIH requirements. Photo by Bessie Liu