Maple Lanes, the classic bowling alley for families, in Borough Park, Brooklyn is being threatened to be torn down and replaced with a synagogue and brick town houses holding up to 182 apartments! This bowling alley is a classic staple of Brooklyn and has long been an inexpensive way for families and friends to get together and just bowl. It is one of the few places left in Brooklyn and one of the only ones in NYC where bowling is open to everyone, not the 21+ crowd. Maple Lanes is also home to most Brooklyn bowling leagues, fun and empowering organizations that are educational and keep kids off the streets. The NY Post says that "such a loss would devastate many local bowling leagues and high schools, as the nearest alleys are at least three miles away and are too small to accommodate everyone." Please help us to save it! WHY: -Save Bowling Leagues -Family-friendly enviornment -Cheap Bowling -Keep kids off the street and doing something fun and empowering. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/klyn_lane_drain_3OxVL3AF19Tpa7osIvdj2N#ixzz26E4JdXRE

Dear Wolf Sender, Marty Markowitz, and Brooklyn Community Board 12,



I am writing to you today to ask that you reconsider your decision to tear down the beloved Maple Lanes for the purpose of building condos.



Maple Lanes has been a staple in every family raised in Brooklyn. As kids, we had our birthday parties there, as students, we joined leagues or went after school, as families, going to Maple Lanes was an inexpensive and fun way for families to get together. It is also one of the few bowling alleys left in New York City that is open to entire families--and doesn't have the 21+ rule of most new bowling "clubs"--and is such a wonderful asset to our community.

The bowling alley is key for local school teams and leagues in the area. It's a fun, educational, empowering, and safe place for kids to be. In this economy especially, we need more places like Maple Lanes. Keeping Maple Lanes will keep kids off the street, allow families to still afford to spend a day together, build self-esteem, and channel anxiety or anger into something productive and fun. Please, please keep it around. It is so important in so many ways.

I understand that there is a need for housing; but this is New York City, there will always (ALWAYS) be a need for housing. No one is tearing down the Empire State Building so that more people can move into our city. Of course, the Empire State Building is not Maple Lanes, but the rationale behind destroying something so vital to a community does not hold up. I also understand that the community of borough park is influential in policy decisions, but we--all of us in Brooklyn (Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Fort Hamilton, etc)--have a voice, too. And we want it saved.



Please reconsider the choice to tear it down and build apartments.

Thank you.



Sincerely,