In Surprise Shift, Mayor De Blasio Says He Opposes Controversial Crown Heights Towers arrow Rendering of 960 Franklin Avenue Credit: YIMBY Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced his opposition to the development of a controversial residential project in Crown Heights that had sparked fears of gentrification as well as the casting of plant-killing shadows over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. For more than a year, housing activists as well as Botanic Garden supporters have protested the plan, known as 960 Franklin. Led by high-profile Manhattan developer Bruce Eichner of Continuum Company, the project seeks to build two 39-story residential towers, both rising above 400 feet, near the perimeter of the Botanic Garden.