Yesterday on PMFA, I posted a meeting notice from Community Board 6's Landmarks/Land Use meeting about a presentation by the Department of City Planning (DCP) tonight at Thursday, October 22 at 6pm. According to CB6, the presentation will focus on DCP's timeline ahead of the January 2021 Gowanus rezoning certification, which is the first step in the Uniform Land Use Reform Process (ULURP)
We also listed all the reasons why we believe the rezoning is all wrong for Gowanus.You're invited to DCP's Gowanus Rezone "Dog and Pony Show" TONITE OCT 22
VOICE OF GOWANUS
Brooklyn, NY, United States
OCT 22, 2020 —
Dear supporter-
Despite over 2,000 emails sent their way by you and your neighbors, your elected councilmembers, including Brad Lander, have completely ignored your request for a moratorium on the Gowanus Rezone. They didn't even have the decency to respond! Instead, they are moving full-steam ahead to push for this massive neighborhood rezoning of Gowanus during a pandemic. As though there aren't enough issues the city needs to deal with!
And tonight, October 22 at 6pm, the Department of City Planing will be presenting the latest version of their rezone proposal to the unelected—appointed by Brad Lander, the Mayor, and others—members of Brooklyn's Community Board 6 Land Use Committee, via a one-way Zoom webinar at 6pm. Register here to watch, if you dare.
Rezoning proponents are trying to paint a pretty picture in the leadup to certification of the rezoning in January 2021; but you can help tell the real story. Register for tonight's meeting and consider raising questions by signing up to speak at the meeting. We have some ideas for questions you can ask, below.
But first, please visit our website link and join our mailing list so we can keep you up to date on the latest developments. You can also volunteer to help, if you'd like.
Here are just a few of the questions we have in advance of tonight's "dog and pony" show (and we don't expect any of these to be answered in any satisfactory way):
Due Process, Public Meetings - Why is City Planning proceeding with this rezoning when it's not safe to have the in-person public hearings required by law for ULURP (land use review process)? Why is it planning to use illegal "virtual" public hearings for ULURP instead of waiting until it's safe to hold a full public hearing in a place of public assembly as required by law?
Can the City Afford this Right Now? What Will It Cost Us in Public Funds? - How many billions of dollars will the city lose in tax revenue over the next 25 years from special developer and investor tax exclusions for sites in Gowanus? How can the city afford that in its current imperiled state? How much taxpayer funding is being used to subsidize brownfield developments? How much tax-free revenue will investors be raking in from the special incentives the city is offering them in the Gowanus? How much is the so-called "affordable housing" actually costing the city, and isn't there a better way to create housing for everyone with this anount of money?
Flooding - Why is the city looking to put people in harm's way with this rezoning by building in a flood zone that is only going to get worse as sea levels rise? What is the plan if 20,000 residents need to be evacuated due to flooding in the Gowanus area? Where will those people be sheltered?
Toxic Canal - Why are we pushing a rezoning for Gowanus when the toxic Canal will not be cleaned up for at least another decade? What will happen with the increased combined sewer overflow potential, especially before the combined sewer overflow tanks are completed in 2032?
Housing on Poisoned Land - Why is the city trying to rezone to place so-called affordable housing on toxic land at Public Place that is not going to be fully remediated, leaving plumes of carcinogenic coal tar deep below the buildings?
Assault on Manufacturing - Why is this rezoning trying to reduce manufacturing space in the neighborhood after we've just seen how crucial manufacturing base is to the city? How much more manufacturing could be created in Gowanus in a better rezoning that didn't give our industrial base short shrift? How many jobs could be created? People who are unemployed are trying to stay in their own homes. Shouldn't we be helping by creating additional jobs for a wide variety of skills?
Racial Displacement Impact - Why isn't there a Racial Impact Study being conducted to ascertain the impacts of this massive rezone on residents of color, conducted before certification in and adjacent to the rezoning target area, as was proposed by the Public Advocate and both Council Members? Has anyone counted the displacement of people of color that happened in the ten years of planning speculation that preceded 2020?
Whose Rezoning is This? - Who's been lobbying city planning and the council members to grease the skids for this rezoning? How much money did the real estate industry spend in efforts to lobby the DCP, BKCB6, and Councilmembers Lander and Levin in order to get this passed?
A Different Housing Reality - Why is this rezoning based on pre-COVID economic and financial assumptions that no longer hold true even going ahead? Why with real estate vacancy figures topping post-9/11 numbers and residents leaving NYC in droves does a rush to ram through a rezoning and overbuild take priority?
What's Not Being Discussed - What about the transit infrastructure that will be required to handle the added tens of thousands of people who would enter the neighborhood under the proposed rezoning? What about the majority of the new residential units being luxury rentals instead of any kind of affordable? What about the lack of community input about our waterfront and open spaces? What about noise, vibrations, and fumes from demolition and site preparation for the next decade?
See you tonite?
Your neighbors from
Voice of Gowanus
Voice of Gowanus
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