Unrequited Love: 360 Smith Developer Removes the Hearts

That didn't take long. The Love Fence, which an artist had decorated with hearts to "smother" the developer of the controversial 360 Smith Street building "with love" and which some of the neighborhood were viewing as a reflection of a less confrontational approach between activists and the project (which is now moving forward with speed), have been removed. "There is a lot less love around today," a Carroll Gardens resident who sent us these photos joked. "I guess that [developer Billy] Stein doesn't want our love." The Love Fence had replaced the Democracy Wall, which was a kind of community bulletin board that often protested the 360 Smith development and other development-related issues in Carroll Gardens.

GL Analysis:
The odds are very good that residents will continue to try to use the wall to express themselves and that, if they don't, it will be taken over by taggers and illegal advertising. Perhaps, the developer might want to make the wall available to artists in the community that have been using the site for nearly a year. Doing so might generate some good will and help to avoid more conflict.