Upcoming: Talk About Gowanus by the Gowanus

There's an interesting sounding meeting that's being put together in Gowanus on May 7. It will take place on Second Street at the Gowanus Canal from 6:30PM-8:30PM. Per an email that's been posted by Tom Gray from Council Member Bill de Blasio's office:

I would like to invite you to be involved in an open discussion with professionals from various New York State and City agencies. The event will focus on the Gownaus Canal corridor that is outlined in the framework developed by the Department of City Planning and the future development of the Public Place site.

Topics can range from transportation, combined sewer overflow, traffic, schools and affordable housing and more. The event will also feature canoe rides by the Gowanus Dredgers...Groups Invited: Department Of Transportation, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Department of Environmental Protection, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Education, Department of City Planning, Department of Buildings, NYPD, FDNY and NYC Park and Recreation.

Definitely a more interesting location than the standard meeting spots in school auditoriums.

Coney Island Day After: "Recent Modest Adjustments" to Plan

Coney Island Development Corp. President Lynn Kelly sent out an email late yesterday about what she called "recent modest adjustments to the Coney Island zoning framework that have both strengthened our finalized plans and will help to move this critically important project toward completion." Ms. Kelly adds that the changes have "increased development opportunities for enclosed amusements and year-round entertainment retail uses." Yesterday, a story in the New York Times noted that the city had reduced the amount of land it wanted to acquire and redevelop as an amusement park from 15 acres to 9 acres. (The land removed from the plan is shown in blue, which we superimposed on an original city map of the plan.) The revision would leave six acres of land in the hands of private owners, most notably developer Joe Sitt, who would retain ownership of significant parcels. Neither the Times article nor Kelly's letter spelled out the exact uses or building height that would be allowed on the land. Here are some excerpts from the letter:

While the zoning framework we announced last Fall was a detailed and thoughtful realization of these core principles (and many more), we said from the outset that it was also a work in progress and that we would continue to work with Coney Island’s elected officials, community leaders, land owners and residents to ensure that the final plan was the best it could possibly be.

I am pleased, therefore, to be able to update you on some recent modest adjustments to the Coney Island zoning framework that have both strengthened our finalized plans and will help to move this critically important project toward completion. This revised framework represents an extremely strong foundation for Coney Island’s revitalization and we are excited about now moving forward with it through the public review process. While we will be sharing much more detailed information with you and other Coney Island stakeholders soon, we wanted to share just a few brief updates on some of these modifications:

* We have increased development opportunities for enclosed amusements and year-round entertainment retail uses

* To accommodate this increased development, while still preserving a major amusement district and enabling us to develop a world class amusement park, we have decreased the size of the new mapped parkland from 15 to 9 acres

* We have created the opportunity for existing land owners – such as long time Coney Island boosters like the Vourderis family, owners of the Wonder Wheel – to develop their properties

Along with these positive changes, we have maintained our commitment to the fundamental aspects of the Coney Island plan, such as the need to create additional active, exciting, year-round entertainment-related uses in Coney East and prevent the district from becoming a generic seaside shopping mall; our steadfast belief that residential housing is not appropriate for the amusement district; and a continued effort to limit higher-density hotels and taller structures to the areas along Surf Avenue, away from the Boardwalk.

As you can see, while some details have been altered in our quest to make this plan a reality, what hasn’t changed is our commitment to our core principles and our overall vision for what Coney Island should – and shouldn’t – be as we secure its long term well-being. We are proud that we are already receiving positive feedback from key stakeholders on our recent efforts – for example, as you will note in the attached article, Councilman Domenic Recchia, Borough President Marty Markowitz and key landowners such as Dennis Vourderis told the NY Times that they were “optimistic” and believed the City “was headed in the right direction” – and we look forward to bringing you up to date with additional information in the near future.

This morning, on WNYC, Mr. Sitt's land use attorney called the revised proposal "a major step forward." A significant amount of the land that has been removed from the amusement park plan belongs to Mr. Sitt and his firm, Thor Equities. State legislation would still be needed to allow the transfer of "parkland" that would complete the deal. Presumably, that would face less political opposition if Mr. Sitt--who would get to develop more land in the heart of the amusement district and acquire well-positioned land where highrise residential development would not draw opposition--and other property owners were on board and behind the significantly revised strategy. Much, much more to come.

New Gowanus Canal Vision: Sponge Park

This is an "environmentally-conscious public park space around the Gowanus Canal" called Sponge Park that comes from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and is designed by dlandstudio. There will be a presentation about it on Monday, April 21 at 6:30PM at PS 58, which is in Carroll Gardens at 330 Smith Street at the corner of Carroll. Meanwhile, this is the view of the esplanade from 3rd Street looking North. A release from the Conservancy says "this 'smart park' is being designed to be beautiful while it also will reduce the CSO problem." The current approximate view of the same area is below. (The big Toll Brothers development would be on the opposite bank of the canal.) The land involved is currently a Verizon parking lot and the "Gowanus Village" property owned by developer Shaya Boymelgreen that has been put back on the market for $20 million.

Williamsburg-Greenpoint Rezoning & 197-a

At first glance, 197-a looks like one more addition to the alphabet soup of bureaucratic programs and acronyms and reminds one of 421-a. Both are important parts of how business is done in neighborhoods around the city, and particularly around Brooklyn. Yesterday Brownstoner noted that 197-a would get some teeth under a new bill introduced in the City Council. (421-a is the "developer tax break" that gave huge tax abatements to developments like the Richard Meier building at Grand Army Plaza and that has been slightly reigned in with some changes that will take effect later this year.)

197-a Plans are community-developed, but are routinely ignored because there is no requirement that they be followed. A case in point is the Williamsburg-Greenpoint rezoning that allowed waterfront highrises. Here's are some excerpts from a long piece written by activist Phil Depaolo who is a veteran of many zoning and development battles in North Brooklyn:

After more than a decade of work, community groups in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg had reached consensus on plans to revitalize their industrial waterfront. The Greenpoint and Williamsburg 197-a Plan proposed a mix of low to mid rise housing in the neighborhood, so it would be affordable to tenants in this working class neighborhood. The 197-a plans proposed that the mix of industry and housing be brought down to the waterfront, but without the noxious industries like waste transfer stations that have concentrated in the area in recent years. And they wanted public access to the waterfront.

The massive rezoning of Greenpoint and Williamsburg that the City Council approved in May 2005 bears little resemblance to the community plans. Ever since the City Council voted for the Greenpoint and Williamsburg 197-a plans in 2001, they failed to lift a finger to implement them. City agencies went into hiding. There were no budget requests to create public access on the waterfront, no initiatives to preserve industry, and no new housing. Instead, the city turned the other way as developers illegally converted industrial properties to unaffordable lofts, and did little to stop the legal conversions. Then the City Planning Commission and City Council approved a sweeping rezoning of the waterfront that opened the way for 10,000 units of high rise housing, and conversion of industrial properties to residential use. Brooklyn’s Community Board One and the Brooklyn Borough President voted against the rezoning...

The details are complicated, but community planning with teeth would seriously changed the city's planning and zoning process.

Bklink: Community Planning with Teeth?

A new bill being introduced in the City Council could give some teeth to community-based planning for rezoning and other initiatives. The legislation, which is an offshoot of a Municipal Art Society effort, would give extend the influence of what are known as 197-a plans. Currently, the plans developed by the community have no legislative weight.--Brownstoner

Controversial AIA Zoning Amendments Are Toast

Those zoning text amendments drafted by the American Institute of Architects that would have allowed bigger buildings and were greeted by a lot of opposition once they were widely known, have been dropped. Queens Crap posted the full text of the AIA letter to Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden yesterday. The changes were complex, but would have allowed bulkier, taller buildings in many neighborhoods. Many opponents felt it was an attempt to introduce technical, yet very important, changes without much public discussion and a number of community groups fought to get the amendments dropped.

Upcoming: Workshop on Brooklyn Bridge Park

We don't know a lot about the session that's being planned to talk about Brooklyn Bridge Park, but we do know that it sounds like it's going to be interesting. Groups that are working to develop the park in a manner that is different from the official Empire State Development Corp. model are holding it. Here's the info:

You're urged to attend the Brooklyn Bridge Park workshop on plans for Pier 6 and the Atlantic Avenue gateway, which will be held at Long Island college Hospital on Thursday, February 28, 2008, between 7 and 9 PM. in the main floor conference rooms B & C. The meeting, sponsored by the Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association in collaboration with the Cobble Hill Association, the Sierra Club, the Willowtown Association, Brooklyn Vision and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, will be moderated by Ethan and Fred Kent of the Project for Public Places, internationally known architects and urban planners. This will be an opportunity for you to hear a variety of views and to present your opinions in a representative and unfiltered forum. Come at 6:30 PM for refreshments and sign-in.

For those that have only casually followed the long running saga of the big real estate development and open space project, there have been bitter disagreements about how to develop the park and the amenities that it should include. (The image here is a rendering showing the bulk of the luxe condo towers that would be built at the foot of Atlantic Avenue as part of the development.)

Battle Over Green Streets in Gerritsen Beach

Of all the things we would expect to find a fight about, the city's "Green Streets" program is not one of them. Yet, there's a battle about a plan in Gerritsen Beach, where GerritsenBeach.Net, which does superb work covering issues in that neighborhood and environs, has been writing about the fight, which includes some heavy-duty politicking. He emailed us to say:

I just wanted to let you know about something over here in my neck of the woods. Do you know green streets? Those are the streets that have gardens and/or trees in a median. Well my neighborhood is actually against this plan and is now turning against Marty Golden, the one who wants this. More or less we got him elected. He's all alone on this project playing politics...A lot of people are using the term war against green streets. There is going to be a town hall tomorrow. Its a very large battle over a 1 mile stretch of land.

A war against green streets? Should be an interesting meeting. It takes place today (2/13) at 7:00 pm at P.S. 277 at 2529 Gerritsen Avenue.

Bklink: Brooklyn Greenway

Community Board 1 will be making a decision about whether to support the Brooklyn Greenway along Kent Avenue and West Street. Because the waterfront esplanades that aren't wide enough, the bikeway would have to go on the street and, as a result, some parking would have to be eliminated. A letter from the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative says, in part, "We have undertaken a parking study and determined that the number of spaces that would be affected can be re-created on adjacent streets by updating parking regulations in industrial areas that are now becoming residential...Building the dedicated bikeway would add over 200 new street trees on these streets, situated on new planted medians that will separate cyclists from moving traffic. It will mitigate the truck route quality of the streets, turning them into places that will be more attractive to pedestrians and conducive to thriving new retail activity.--Green Brooklyn

Imagining Flatbush 2030

There was another meeting in Flatbush last night as part of the Imagining Flatbush 2030 effort to create a neighborhood-based framework for future planning. The Municipal Art Society has produced this video from an earlier session. It starts out with Mayor Bloomberg talking about the PlaNYC 2030 effort and moves on to discussions in Flatbush, all with a music soundtrack. MAS calls it an attempt "to incorporate more Jacobsonian ideals of livability" in the city's PlaNYC 2030.

A Lofty Gowanus Expressway-Free Vision of the Future

Someday, current day Brooklynites (or their grandchildren) might be able to walk and bicycle on a huge greenway where the vile Gowanus Expressway once stood. Ideas to tear it down and bury it have been floated, but above is a new vision in today's Daily News that was obtained by Jotham Sederstrom. He writes:

The notoriously congested Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn would be demolished and replaced by 4 miles of greenery under a plan being floated by a leading architectural group, the Daily News has learned.

Designs drafted by the American Institute of Architects call for replacing the deteriorating Third Ave. expressway with a glitzy cable suspension roadway on First Ave. and filling the gap with miles of trees and bike paths.

We figure the odds of us living long enough to see this magnificent vision realized are slim, but there's always hope for future generations.

Help Re-Invent Grand Army Plaza

There's an interesting competition underway to solicit ideas for reenvisioning and reimagining Grand Army Plaza. Per Streets Blog:

The Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo) and the Design Trust for Public Space are launching an "Ideas Competition" called Reinventing Grand Army Plaza. Building on GAPCo's on-going effort to re-envision this historic Brooklyn crossroads, the Ideas Competition will solicit new, creative proposals for Grand Army Plaza's re-design. Top submissions will be exhibited in the summer of 2008 at the Brooklyn Public Library or the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

GAPCo is soliciting ideas to put together a briefing book for those entering the competition. Click over to Streets Blog for all the information.

Upcoming: Flatbush 2030 Vision Meeting

The "future visioning" effort for Flatbush called Imagine Flatbush 2030 is coming up on Wednesday, December 12 at 6:30 at the Brooklyn College Student Center. The effort is a joint venture of the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC) and the Municipal Art Society. Sustainable Flatbush describes it as:

a community visioning and dialogue process — designed to get you together with other Flatbush community members to collectively create a more sustainable neighborhood. If you care about the environment, community health, protecting diversity, ensuring affordable housing and a whole host of other community issues, this is the meeting for you!

Given that a lot of Brooklyn communities aren't planning for 2009, let alone 2030, it's a very interesting undertaking. (Click on the image above to see it at full size.)

The Brooklyn 2012 Vid

Someone finally posted a clean copy of that "Downtown Brooklyn 2012" video narrated by Sir Ian McKellen on YouTube without commercials or the New York Post logo, so we're embedding it below. Regardless of how one feels about the vision that's presented--strongly pro, strongly con or somewhere in between--it's definitely worth five minutes of any Brooklynite's time.

More Chances to Learn the Zoning Process

Want to learn about the zoning and land use review process? The Fifth Avenue Committee is sponsoring workshops in early November. They are part of a series the group has been presenting. The workshops are called "Demystifying ULURP." They are bilingual and there are two sessions, on Monday, Nov. 5th, 2-5 pm and on Tuesday, Nov. 6th, 6-9 pm. They will take place at 621 DeGraw Street, which is between Third and Fourth Avenue. The group requires an RSVP to attend the free sessions. Anyone that is interested can call Dave Powell at 718-237-2017, Ext. 148 or email him at dpowell@fifthave.org. (Last time we posted about one of FAC's zoning sessions we noted that an interest in zoning issues should be rewarded by open to doors to anyone that takes the initiative and attends. We still feel that way and hope that FAC doesn't turn away concerned residents for not RSVP'ing for these important commmunity events.) The group explains ULURP this way:

The Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is a public review process mandated by New York City charter. The procedure sets requirements and timeframes for public participation and government decision making about zoning changes, dispositions of city land and other special development projects.

Why do some government bodies have the power to make decisions during ULURP while others can only make recommendations? How effective is ULURP as a means of gathering public input about development? Can ordinary citizens use ULURP to shape development in their neighborhoods? Why was the Atlantic Yards project not subject to ULURP? Join us as we endeavor to answer these questions and more!

Given that zoning and ULURP can determine the character of a community for generations, understanding the process and how to have input in it is vital.

Brooklyn Public Library Fountains Popular

We finally paid a visit to the recently completed new plaza in front of the Brooklyn Library. It's pleasant, although it looks like it could use more greenery in order to prevent it from become a sun-reflecting frying pan in the summer. We are not trying to nitpick, but we couldn't help notice that the new fountains that were installed must have proven popular with both adults and children as they had to be chained off and signs had to be put up telling people to stay out. Again, we wonder what the designers might have been thinking to install bubbling water in an expanse of stone and concrete in the middle of Brooklyn and not expect people to walk through them? It rather reminds us of the way the fountain in front of the Brooklyn Museum was barricaded and put under guard when the museum first opened because people were, well, playing in the fountain. It reminded us of our belief that architecture and planning students should be required to take a full year course called "Travel the City and Watch How People Actually Use Things." All that having been said, it's a nice space.

Will Dolly Get Dumped?

It appears that the interesting tenure of City Planning Commission member Dolly Williams, who is an appointee of Borough President Marty Markowitz, may be numbered according to Jotham Sederstrom writing in today's Daily News. You might associate Ms. Williams' name because she had to recuse herself from voting on the Atlantic Yards project because of her investments, or because she had to recuse herself from voting on Gowanus rezoning because she owns land in the area. If those issues don't ring a bell, there are others too, like a recent billing dispute over a Forest City Ratner project in Harlem. And, of course, there's the issue of her bright yellow Porsche and its parking space in Park Slope (pictured above). You can find a nice summary of issues here. In any case, Mr. Sederstrom writes that Ms. Williams "has been serving the board for three months without an official reinstatement, fueling speculation her days are numbered...Markowitz, whose term as borough president expires next year, wouldn't say whether he had decided whether to reappoint Williams but insisted that the real estate developer had 'represented the borough admirably as my appointee.'"

Arena in the Front Yard

Okay, the Barclays Center wouldn't be in the front yard of this little yellow house on Dean Street, it would be across the street. Actually, one of the tall buildings attached to the arena would be across from across the street from this little 474 Dean. We've seen these kinds of juxtapositions before, but in places like Houston where zoning hasn't exactly been a priority. No Land Grab writes:

Meet 474 Dean Street, a three-story clapboard townhouse across the street from the footprint of Bruce Ratner's arena superblock. If Ratner has his way, this three-story 1,800 sq-ft house will be facing the south side of the Nets arena and Building 3, which, , would be the shortest high-rise on the arena superblock.

According to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement, "the New York City Zoning Resolution prohibits arenas within 200 feet of residential districts as some of the operations could be incompatible with districts limited primarily to residential use." Because the State of NY is using its power to supercede the NYC Zoning Resolution, Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan circumvents this regulation.

In other words, the Atlantic Yards plan goes beyond the Manhattanization of Brooklyn, because even in Manhattan, you will not find an arena across the street from a home, such as 474 Dean St.

Maybe Mr. Gehry could do something to incorporate the spirit of 474 Dean into his big buildings?

[Photo courtesy of threecee/flickr]

UNITY Meeting on Vanderbilt Yards Alternative Plan

There's a meeting coming up on Monday (9/24) that asks "What if the Atlantic Yards project isn't built?" or is only partly built and presents some alternate visions for the site. It's called UNITY and will take place on Monday. The subject is "A realistic, community-sensitive proposal for the development of Brooklyn’s Vanderbilt rail yards.

There will be a press conference at 11AM on Monday with project designers Marshall Brown, Ronald Shiffman, and Dr. Tom Angotti and a Community Forum at 6 PM with Mr. Brown and Dr. Angotti. The location is The Soapbox Gallery at 636 Dean Street (between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues) in Prospect Heights.

Sketching Out a Myrtle Avenue Makeover

A big plan for a remake of Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill was posted yesterday. The document is the result of a long period of planning and community meetings by the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Parternship and the Project for Public Spaces. Streets Blog wrote of the effort:

The days when Myrtle was known as "Murder Avenue" are long past. Thriving shops and restaurants line much of the street, in part thanks to the efforts of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Business Improvement District (constituent members of the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership). But many areas remain where the street's potential is going unrealized, and that's what the collaboration with PPS was meant to address. "We were looking at streetscape conditions," says Vaidila Kungys, the partnership's program manager for planning and economic development. "There's a lot of clutter, crowded sidewalks and problematic intersections."

The plan reenvisions intersections and pedestrian spaces among other things, offering a number of options for resdesign. With the city's new emphasis on creating livable streetscapes, there is actually a chance that some of the concepts will make the jump from the paper to sidewalk.