Friday, February 15, 2008
Toll Brothers' Gowanus Gozilla Project: Pardon Me For Asking, but...
Pardon me for asking, but does anybody agree with me that the Toll Brothers rezoning from industrial to "special" mixed-use along their stretch of the Gowanus Canal will happen before the down-zoning of Carroll Gardens?
What do you think, dear reader? Should we take bets?
And of course that is not even the most important issue. Building along the Gowanus without first cleaning up the entire area is nothing but criminal.
If the city allows it, it will only reinforce what many believe: The developers have been given the run of our city.
From The Gowanus Lounge:
Starting Bell: Toll Brothers Reveal Gowanus Plan
For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.JPG)
5 comments:
If you look at rezoning done in other areas - I think the result is for the blocks that are 'downzoned' there will be compensating areas for 'upzoning'.
(for example - 4th Avenue).
No way is city planning going to limit height on all blocks/streets in Carroll Gardens and fringe blocks.
All communities in NYC must accomodate more residents - and Carroll Gardens will not be exempt.
So better to come up with workable plan.
I am having great difficulty understanding how the Gowanus rezoning is so far along. I did got to a CPC presentation over a year ago and my understanding there would be more public meetings and input. Whatever happened to having a comprehensive development scheme with low density housing?
We have many other new projects that are planned for our neighborhood such as 360 Smith, 340 Bond, the Clarett project, and 333 Carroll St. I would think people would prefer these instead of living next to an open sewer that has an std. Is there a plan to stop the sewage? There will be more once AY is built and the Fourth Ave. projects are completed.
I wish the press would interview some pediatricians about the wisdom of living next to the canal the health effects it could have on children instead of running to Buddy Scotto and his "people" for quotes. Maybe Toll Brothers will make people sign a waiver before they can reside there.
There seems to be no thought to the long range impact this will have other than build build build. There is no discussion about building more schools, adding sanitation and postal services, improving transportation,improving our aging infrastructure, or creating more fdny/police jobs. At least there will be an EMS station right next door so when the benzene goes to the residents heads they can be whisked away to LICH quickly.
What will become of the large scale project if no one wants to live there? Public housing? Abandoned buildings?
Moratorium Now! Recession Now!
Think back to those Department of City Planning Meetings, wasn' the discussion about changing zoning for MIXED USE?
This is a 605,380 sq. ft development plan with 2,000 sq. ft community space and 2,000 sq. ft of commercial. That makes it more than 99.99% housing, .0007% other.
This isn't mixed use!
This project really scares me. I live 3 blocks away from this development and if it moves forward my rent with go through the roof!
Hi Kate,
I think we are all concerned about the impact of such a huge project in our neighborhood. And that is just one development. There is also Public Place which is going to have many housing units. The city is not adding any schools, any subways and not actively adding other infra- structure to acommodate more people.
The future should be very fun in Carroll Gardens.
Post a Comment