Back in the 1980's, the city erroneously labeled the 'Place' blocks here in Carroll Gardens as wide streets, therefore allowing higher and bulkier construction on those beautiful brownstone blocks. Developers seized this opportunity to build up and out and of course, to make more profit. The result in most cases were condo buildings that were out of context with the rest of the neighborhood.
After many months of unbelievable hard work, a group of very dedicated residents from C.O.R.D. and The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association have been able to convince the city to correct this zoning loophole. In July, the City Council voted for the Wide Street Text Amendment.
Immediately, stop work orders were issued to the construction sites that were within the area covered by the text amendment.
Bill Stein, the developer of Oliver House will have his case heard by the Board of Standards and Appeals today. Two applications are calendared. The first one is to prove that the foundation of his development is substantially completed. The second one is to prove that he will suffer financial hardship if he is forced to build according to the amended zoning.
Oh, I feel so very bad for Mr. Stein. Personally, I believe that the developer will make a healthy profit even if he needs to scale the project back. Of course, for him, more is better...but that could also be interpreted as greed.
If the Board of Standards and Appeals should decide in Stein's favor tomorrow they will wrong the Carroll Gardens community once more. It has already been determined by the city that the old zoning which Stein wants to have applied had been an oversight. Now that the Place Blocks have been downzoned, Stein should be forced to conform.
No matter what happens, I am proud of my fellow Carroll Gardeners for all the work that they have done.
Thanks Rita, Lucy, John, Glenn, Maria, Vince, Triada, Maryann and so many more....
The hearing is open to the public. I hope many of you can come.
BSA/Board of Standards and Appeals.
September 24, 2008 10:00 AM
BSA/Board of Standards and Appeals.
September 24, 2008 10:00 AM
40 Rector Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10006
Related Reading:
Revisiting Mr. Stein's 360 Smith Street / 131 Second Place Oliver House Site
For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking
.JPG)
4 comments:
pardonmeforasking, but can you post that i would like to start a coalition, club, whathaveyou to protest the blaming, demanding, whosaysisaysprotesters.
boy, oh, boy, after they get thru with mr. stein, who next?
probably the next new kid on the block
if not for all the cost, aggravation, added expense, time, the blockwatchers should let mr. stein complete his project and, perhaps ask for a added amenity somewhere in the neighborhood or a really beautiful subway plaza a la paris, perhaps ask him to beautify a space for the inner city disadvantaged children
but, the protesters will keep protesting as long as they get a night out to get away from the husband or , oh, oh, hey, free coffee and dunkin donuts
i'mjustsaying
Dear anonymous 1 -- how insulting and moronic. So I should lose the beauty and scale of my own block, my home, in order to create some beautiful place for the "disadvantaged" who live somewhere else? How is that a fare trade? Perhaps you should cut out one of your eyeballs to donate to some disadvantaged stranger in need of a cornea transplant? Or replace your hardwood floor with linoleum sticky-tiles so someone else can benefit from the wood?
This developer tried to screw the neighborhood by taking advantage of oversights in the old laws. I give him credit for reading--or at least hiring a staff who could read--the fine print. And he almost away with it. Nice try, but he lost--because those of us who live here stood up and worked even harder to stop him. Now he's the one who needs to move on and stop wasting taxpayer time and money with ridiculous appeals over a development that shouldn't have been greenlit in the first place...
Also: Your comment ("away from the husband"..."free coffee") reflects a deep misogyny. Look it up...and consider seeing a therapist.
"as long as they get a night away from the husband"? I am still shaking my head around that one!!!
Oh and poor Mr. Stein and his "aggaravation & added expenses"! Karma is a b*tch. What about the newspaper stand guy who lost his business and all the commuters that have to stuff themselves onto the narrow (see it's NOT wide) sidewalk to get into that tunnel to the subway?
Let's hear it for free speech and democracy (while we still have it)that "wide street"/narrow street" thing was ridiculous and needed to to get noticed!
bill stein is a typical developer pig...stop the overbuilding..soo sorry he cant get as much return on investment as he wanted at the cost of ruining the neighborhood
Post a Comment