SAVE GOWANUS Determined To Fund Own Independent Study To Evaluate Hydrological Impact Of Large Scale Elevated Developments Like Lightstone Group's On Flood Prone Area

Warren Cohen of Save Gowanus

Carl Teitelbaum

Lizzie Olesker

Marlene Donnelly

Jim Vogel of State Senator Velmanette Montgomery's office

On Tuesday evening, members of Save Gowanus Association (SGA) updated the Gowanus/ Carroll Gardens community on the proposed Lightstone Group development on several properties at 363-365 Bond Street and on the impacts the project will have on the neighborhood.

Warren Cohen started the meeting by giving a brief summary of the project, which calls for two twelve-story towers at the base of Bond Street that extend to Carroll Street and Second Street. The 700 apartment units will add around 1,200 residents to the shores of the Gowanus Canal, which has been declared a EPA Superfund Site.

Though there are obvious questions regarding the impact of the project on local schools, subway and street traffic, there are more serious environmental concerns surrounding the proposed development which relate to the impact of flooding in the area. In the wake of two hurricanes and recent flash floods that caused mayor damage to nearby buildings and disabled traffic along some of the roadways, there are serious concerns about Lightstone's plan to regrade and elevate their building site above the floodplain.
Since the Gowanus canal was originally engineered to allow rainwater from surrounding areas to drain into the waterway, elevating the site may have major ramifications for surrounding buildings.

"We are afraid that this will alter drainage patterns that have been in existence since the neighborhood was founded one hundred and fifty years ago. There are also major sewage system issues." Cohen told local residents.
Addressing the overall redevelopment of the Gowanus area, that could lead to many more twelve story buildings if the area is rezoned for more residential use, Warren stated: "I know a lot of people want to see interesting changes in the Gowanus area. We all want to be part of that discussion, but we think that twelve story buildings, building basically the equivalent of Battery Park City in our own back yard, is not the way to go."

In early May, Councilmember Lander, Congresswoman Velázquez and State Senator Montgomery sent a letter to the Mayor's office asking for a hydrological impact of large elevated sites in flood zones, including the Lightstone Group's development."
The City has not responded to the letter yet. Given Mayor Bloomberg's shameful attempt to stop the Superfund designation and his refusal to build retention basins to reduce sewage discharge into the canal in any meaningful way, that hardly seems surprising.
Save Gowanus has decided not to wait for the City and has started collecting money to be able to commission an independent comprehensive hydrological study for the community.  (The cost is approximately $5,000)

The Association has already raised enough funds since their last meeting to retain the services of Jeffrey Baker, an environmental lawyer at Young/Summer LLC. Baker has already taken the first legal action on its behalf relating to Lightstone application to New York State's Brownfield Clean-Up Program. If the application is approved by the State, the program would make the developer eligible for tax credits relating to the cleanup and redevelopment of the Bond Street site. This could mean that upwards of 25 % of the entire cost of Lightstone's development could be footed by New York tax payers.

A letter sent by Baker to NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation calls into question the eligibility of the properties at 363-365 Bond Street because "the Applications do not demonstrate that the contaminants present on the sites may be complicating the development, use or re-use of these properties as required by the BCP regulations."

Save Gowanus is determined to advocate for residents near the Gowanus Canal and to fight against out of scale developments like Lightstone Group's residential project 'that is out of scale and inconsistent with surrounding land use."

Please help contribute towards Save Gowanus legal fund and/or an independent hydrological study. Click here.




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Conference Call With Senator Daniel Squadron TONIGHT!

Just got this email from Senator Daniel Squadron's office. Squadron will be talking directly to his constituents via a conference call tonight to update everyone on what is happening in Albany.
Great idea! I know I will be dialing that number...

Here is the message from Daniel Squadron:

Dear Friend,

With all that’s happening in Albany, a lot of people have been asking
me what’s going on and where I think we should go from here.

In order to speak with you directly, share my perspective and answer
any questions you might have, I would love it if you would join a
conference call I'll be having at 6pm.

To listen to the call please dial this number and, when prompted,
enter the six-digit conference code number:

Dial-in: 1-712-432-3100
Conference code: 691380

If you have any questions or thoughts please email them ahead of time
to admin@danielsquadron.org. Please let us know that you'll be joining
us by emailing us at that address as well.

I hope to speak with you this evening!

Sincerely,

Daniel

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A Letter From Albany: State Senator Squadron Updates His Constituents On The Goings-On

Have you been following the despicable goings-on in Albany in the last few days? As our State Senate has been turned into one giant soap-opera, our State Senator Daniel Squadron addresses his constituents directly with this email to express his own indignation at his colleagues. The email was sent out yesterday. Just in case you did not get it, I am reprinting it here.

Dear Friend,

With so much happening in Albany, I wanted to send along an update.

Over the last week and a half, I’m sure you have joined the rest of the state in looking on with horror and fascination as the State Senate has collapsed. A partially aborted attempt by two of my Democratic colleagues to enter into a pact with the Republicans has led to deadlock...and absurdity. For a period last week, the most significant question circling the capitol was, who holds the keys to the Senate chamber? The absurd truth is that control of the upper legislative house in the third largest state in the nation seemed for a period to hinge on an actual hinge.

There are lots of reasons we are in this mess. For one, it's important to remember there are many who have been desperate to freeze action on important progressive goals from housing to jobs to ethics and campaign finance.

But things have gotten so bad so quickly for a simple reason. In the State Senate, the person, or people, who lay claim to the title of Temporary President and Majority Leader hold all the power. You are not witnessing a simple battle over titles or committee chairs. Rather you are witnessing a fight built on the question of who controls:

· All of the millions of dollars of internal Senate resources (staff, district mailings, member “lulu” stipends…even paper clips)

· All of the tens of millions of dollars of legislative grants and capital investment dollars
· All – that’s right all – of the legislation that moves through the house (in effect giving the leader of the Senate a non-overideable veto on all legislative matters in the
State of New York)
· All other things you can imagine, except who gets elected to this body

New Yorkers are watching a woefully undemocratic process unfold because this is a battle for control of a woefully undemocratic place. After having been elected by the people, each legislator holds one powerful card – the vote for leader. In a sixty-two-member body in which members are so evenly divided between parties – and all sixty-two of us, not to mention advocates, lobbyists and special interests, understand the stakes – desperation, chaos, and stalemate are all too likely.

The only way out of this mess, assuming neither party suddenly gains a large majority, is for the entire body to enact real reform that fundamentally changes the power dynamic.

In the short-term, we need a bipartisan operating agreement that leaves the question of leadership aside while letting us pass the legislation that is so important for our city and our state. We cannot let the madness overwhelm the fact that the issues we fight for and the laws we pass have a profound effect on our constituents.

The proposal put forward by the Democratic Conference, modeled on what other states have done, is a fair way to get us back to the business of legislating, or at least a place to start the conversation. (On the other hand, the "proposal" put forward by the Republican Conference would give Pedro Espada and Dean Skelos absolute power and includes the insane idea that Senator Espada has two votes.)

Of course, whatever solution we come to now won’t get all of the legislation I'm fighting for passed or solve all of the Senate's problems -- and there are a lot of them. Real long-term reform is necessary; we need substantive changes on ethics, campaign finance and internal rules. This year we started to move the ball on each, but we have not done nearly enough. Beyond just getting support for ethics reform, which I was pleased to do, we have to enact it. Beyond just introducing campaign finance bills, we have to pass them into law. And beyond rules reform at the margins (or what the "coup" served up, which is a cynical attempt at headlines that masks leader-controlled business-as-usual), we need to fundamentally change the way the Senate is organized: if we had a real way to move bills to the floor, non-partisan administration of the Senate, and a fairer balance of power between the leader and the members, this sort of nuclear stalemate would be very, very unlikely.

New Yorkers are witnessing a fight over choosing a leader who will have near-absolute power, not just on a $130 billion budget but on issues from healthcare to the environment, housing to farming to civil rights. If there is any lesson from this standoff, it is that reform is not about idealism or feeling nice. It is about democracy, at its most basic core. Without democracy, the rot emanating from the Senate Chamber won’t stop in Albany; it is sure to spread, via bad laws and poor policy, across the state from Western New York to the eastern tip of Long Island.

I wish I could offer a prediction about what happens next; but the last week and a half has been so unpredictable, I'm convinced predictions are impossible. (A week and a half ago I would have bet that this week we would pass my ethics reform legislation, my housing, education and pedestrian safety proposals, and a raft of other bills I carry.)

As always, please let me know if you have any thoughts, suggestions -- or predictions. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,

Daniel

Daniel Squadron
State Senator
25th Senate District

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