Pardon Me For Asking: Voice of Gowanus

Showing posts with label Voice of Gowanus. Show all posts

Monday, November 22, 2021

When It Comes To The Gowanus Rezone, We Cannot Trust Brad Lander

Pardon Me For Asking has been a bit quiet of late, and for this, I apologize. I should have updated this little site long ago, I know.

Thank you to all who have reached out to say that they have missed the neighborhood information posted here and to make sure all is well. I want to reassure everyone that I am doing great and that I intend to resume posting soon.

The reason for this long hiatus is simple: throughout the summer and fall, I have been fighting alongside Voice of Gowanus in opposition to Mayor De Blasio and Councilmember Brad Lander's efforts to create an unhealthy environment for current and future residents of Gowanus with their plan to rezone the neighborhood.

You might be aware of the fact that tomorrow, Tuesday, November 23rd, members of the New York City Council will cast a final vote on this massive 82 block rezone, despite the fact that the Gowanus Canal has not been fully remediated under EPA's Superfund program, that much of the area is a FEMA flood zone, and that the City still dumps raw sewage into the canal...and into our homes, as Ida has recently shown.

Most of the Council members will probably just rubber stamp the rezone, giving deference to Brad Lander, our 39th District Council Member, who has been shamelessly pushing for it.

As Lander personally escorted the rezone through the 7 months City Council Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP), he has been shifty on many of the issues related to Gowanus.

Please take a moment to read an open letter just published in the Brooklyn Eagle by Debbie Stoller and Linda La Violette of Voice of Gowanus, which reveals that Brad Lander can’t be trusted "to heed his own ostensible progressive principles in Gowanus."

A Tale of Two Brad Landers: An Open Letter to the New York City Council on the Gowanus Rezone

It will be up to us, as a community, to live with the consequences of this ill-fated rezoning. History has shown that politicians and developers promise much, but that promises are forgotten promptly when building permits have been issued. We also know that we cannot rely on the Department of City Planning's projections for this large rezone, since those projections are often very wrong.

And most importantly, Brad Lander will be long gone when the resulting health and flooding issues related to supersizing an already environmentally-challenged Gowanus are on full display.

Voice of Gowanus will continue to fight. The group has recently retained environmental lawyer Richard Lippes, who represented plaintiffs in the famed Love Canal and Three Mile Island cases.

What can you do to help?

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Voice of Gowanus to continue the fight.

Thanks in advance, Katia

No Gowanus Rezone! Reverend Billy And His 'Stop Shopping Choir' Join Voice Of Gowanus In Celebration Of Biodiversity Day

In case you missed it, this Sunday was Biodiversity Day. It only seemed fitting to us to celebrate the occasion in Gowanus, Brooklyn, with members of Voice of Gowanus, Gowanus Artists In Alliance (GAIA) and Reverend Billy Talen for some good old fashioned activism

Reverend Billy, in a lime green suit, led members of his Stop Shopping Choir and local residents in songs about the past, present, and future of this former marshland, which is so polluted today that the Environmental Protection Agency declared it a Superfund Site, a designation reserved for the most polluted lands in the United States.

Though a clean-up of the canal is currently underway, it will take another ten years to dredge all the toxic material from the 1.8 mile waterway. Despite its toxicity, the canal and its banks are home to many birds, plants, fish.. and humans.

And of course, there were calls for actions against the proposed 80 block Gowanus rezoning, which is projected to bring 20,000-22,000 new residents to this FEMA flood zone, without serious consideration for necessary infrastructure and thorough environmental clean-ups.

One action is the demand for a redo of the Department of City Planning's Draft Environmental Impact Study for the Gowanus Rezoning, which is a mind-numbing 1,000 pages long. The DEIS has a major flaw since the EPA, FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers were not involved in its creating as "involved parties." It is imperative that they be partner agencies in a rewritten, lawful DEIS.

It still distressed us how many Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and Park Slope residents have no idea about the rezoning, let alone its sheer size and environmental impacts.

Actions like the one on the Union Street Bridge with Reverend Billy hopefully informed some more in the community.

This Sunday, Come Celebrate Biodiversity Day In Gowanus With Reverent Billy And Local Activists

Sunday 23rd of May, Biodiversity Day 3:30 PM

Union Street Bridge, (Union St between Nevins & Bond) in Gowanus Brooklyn

A celebration with the Stop Shopping Choir (Reverend Billy), Voice of Gowanus and Gowanus Artists In Alliance (GAIA) for Biodiversity Day in advance of a city land grab - the proposed Gowanus re-zoning

Festive attire, protest signs, singing, children, pets and symbols of what attendees love about Gowanus are encouraged.
We'll be talking and singing about the past, present, and future of this former marshland and current home to birds, plants, fish, and people on the banks of our favorite superFUN Superfund site

Watch The Video Now! Voice Of Gowanus Town Hall "Water, Water Everywhere Town Hall: Climate Change, Flooding and the Gowanus Rezone"

On May 11, grassroots community coalition Voice of Gowanus hosted a Town Hall for the Gowanus community entitled Water, Water Everywhere: Climate Change, Flooding and the Gowanus Rezone.
It was a fascinating panel discussion with Flood Risk and Climate Change experts Adrian Santiago Tate,
D.J. Rassmussen, Noah Dewar, as well as Maureen Koetz, Esq, principal of Planet A+ Strategies.

For anyone who missed the event, PMFA is posting the complete video of the Town Hall so that as many people as possible can watch it and hopefully share with other residents living in and around the Gowanus.

There were some crucial takeaways that everyone in the community should be aware of:

-Hurricane Sandy-like storm events will increase in prevalence due to climate change and the flood impacts of such storms have intensified due to sea level rise; current projections show that the Gowanus Houses would be inundated by flooding—much worse than Sandy—if a similar event happens in the near future. (See maps below)

- the piecemeal flood mitigation measures for new construction included in the proposed rezoning, including raising the banks and bulkheads along the Canal, could actually have the unintended consequence of funneling flood waters towards older structures, like the Gowanus Houses, exacerbating flood impacts for those parts of our community.

- the substructures underneath Public Place indicate that the flow of dangerous contamination from the site could be going in multiple directions, including underneath the residential blocks of Carroll Gardens on the other side of Smith St; the flow of contamination is not only towards the Gowanus Canal.

-- a review of a 2005 Public Place Investigation Report by the firm GEI shows that the worst kinds of contamination were migrating off the site, including to the other side of the canal.

Please pay attention to this issue as New York City has now certified the proposed Gowanus rezoning and the Uniform Land Use Review Process has started in earnest. The clock is ticking and we need everyone to be engaged in this discussion.

And for those who still don't know: The Gowanus Rezone is the largest being pushed through by the De Blasio administration. It covers 80 blocks in Gowanus and will bring a projected 20,000 new residents, 8,500 new dwelling units on 63 development sites by 2035.

This, despite the fact that the Gowanus Canal has been declared an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site, that the City still uses the canal as an open sewer and discharges raw sewage into our waterway, and that most of the development area is a FEMA Flood Zone A .

This point was very well illustrated during the Town Hall with the illustrations below.

From the Town Hall: Sea-Level Rise will increase the extend of the floodplain

Above: Hurricane Sandy Flood Extend in Gowanus in 2012.

Red Line indicates the outline of the proposed Gowanus Rezone

Projected 2050 Hurricane Sandy Extended Floodplain

Water, Water Everywhere: Climate Change, Flooding And The Gowanus Rezone

Grassroots community coalition Voice Of Gowanus invited everyone to a Town Hall event next week about the Gowanus rezone. Please read on to learn more, and register for what should be a very informative evening. And please tell your neighbors.

Water, Water Everywhere: Climate Change, Flooding, & the Gowanus Rezone

A Panel Discussion with Flood Risk and Climate Change Experts hosted by Voice of Gowanus

Tuesday May 11, 2021 6:00 pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Featured panelists:

ADRIAN SANTIAGO TATE, PhD has a background in coastal engineering, hydrodynamic modeling, and uncertainty quantification. Adrian researched nature-based solutions for reducing coastal risk as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, and later for his PhD at Stanford. He’s published his research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Adrian is conducting sea level rise vulnerability assessments to help state governments prepare for future flooding.

D.J. RASMUSSEN is a climate scientist, engineer, and policy scholar. He studies coastal floods, sea-level rise, and public works strategies for managing their economic and social costs. He is co-author of “Economic Risks of Climate Change: An American Prospectus”. D.J.’s research has informed multiple climate assessment reports from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He completed his PhD at Princeton University.

MAUREEN KOETZ, ESQ. is principal of Planet A+ Strategies. Ms Koetz has served as counsel and advisor to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, former Senator Domenici, and the EPA. She has sued to eliminate duplicative real estate LLC donations, has been lead plaintiff in the successful Lefrak/Gateway tenant class action suit, and a strategic advisor in the Two Bridges, Inwood, and South Street Seaport zoning actions.

NOAH DEWAR is a hydrogeophysicist, machine learning expert, and PhD candidate at Stanford university studying environmental geophysics. Noah’s PhD research has focused on the development of methodologies that leverage geophysical surveying systems to study aquifers in the Central Valley of California. His research is part of the Groundwater Architecture Project (GAP) which aims to revolutionize how groundwater models are built.

Voice Of Gowanus Releases New Environmental Baselines For Just And Sustainable Development In Gowanus

Today, members of Voice Of Gowanus gathered next to the Public Place site on 5th Street at Hoyt Street to release their new Environmental Baselines for Just and Sustainable Development in Gowanus. The location was significant since Public Place is a polluted former manufactured gas plant site, which has been proposed for housing under the Gowanus rezoning

From a press release by VoG:

The group was unequivocal: Before any proposed rezoning in Gowanus may proceed, five baselines for environmental and human health must be met. The baselines are built upon new legal and environmental expert analysis commissioned by VOG.

The coalition also demanded that FEMA and the EPA be full co-lead agencies in preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Gowanus rezoning given the neighborhood's notorious flooding, sewage, and toxicity problems. Any EIS without EPA and FEMA as co-lead agencies is insufficient and invalid.

Voice of Gowanus and a panel of experts will further review the health and environmental issues that must be addressed prior to any rezoning at its Fight for Gowanus: Townhall Panel Discussion on March 24 at 6:30 pm (full details and registration here).

Click here for full Baselines Document

"Fight for Gowanus: Protecting Community Health and Safety from a Massive Rezoning": A Panel Discussion with Zoning and Environmental Experts

The proposed 80 block Gowanus Rezoning is the most consequential issue in our community in the past thirty years. Yet the City of New York seems to be ignoring the many serious environmental issues in Gowanus, as well as trying to restrict local residents' access to a fair and legal Uniform Land Use Review Process.

If you would like to know more about the rezoning and the issues, please join the event below, hosted by Voice of Gowanus.
Read on to learn more, and register for what should be a very informative evening.

Fight for Gowanus: Protecting Community Health and Safety from a Massive Rezoning

A Panel Discussion with Zoning and Environmental Experts hosted by Voice of Gowanus

Wednesday March 24, 2021 6:30 pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

FEATURED PANELISTS:

PROFESSOR TOM ANGOTTI is Professor Emeritus of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY where he was the founder and director of the Hunter Center for Community Planning and Development. An activist in NYC community and environmental issues, his books include New York For Sale: Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate and Zoned Out! Race, Displacement and City Planning in New York City.

ALICIA BOYD is a political activist at the forefront of fighting gentrification and displacement. Ms Boyd was instrumental in protecting the Crown Heights/Flatbush Ave community from a district-wide rezoning, leading the first community of color to stop a district-wide rezoning. She continues to fight a major development targeted at destroying the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Jackie Robinson Playground.

MAUREEN KOETZ, ESQ. is principal of Planet A+ Strategies. Ms Koetz has served as counsel and advisor to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, former Senator Domenici, and the EPA. She has sued to eliminate duplicative real estate LLC donations, has been lead plaintiff in the successful Lefrak/Gateway tenant class action suit, and a strategic advisor in the Two Bridges, Inwood, and South Street Seaport zoning actions.

JASON ZAKAI, ESQ. is a commercial litigator and land-use, zoning and preservation attorney in New York and New Jersey, representing individuals, businesses, and community organizations on a wide range of matters in city, state and federal courts and agencies. Some of Mr Zakai’s representative cases include matters involving the Lucerne Hotel homeless shelter on the UWS, and the Clock Tower Building in Tribeca.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Following the successful of its first outdoor pop-up in February, Café Rezoné, Gowanus' newest trendy dining option, returned today with a brand new menu in Carroll Park, Carroll Gardens.

This time, the upper echelon patrons of the exclusive eatery dined on Three-Eyed Fish, Raw Sewage Salad with Black Mayonnaise, Char-grilled lobbying dollars with a manufacturing reduction, and Pan-seared Public Place Toxins.

The event was an opportunity for the community to laugh, but also to learn about the absurdity of New York City's plan to build affordable housing near an EPA Superfund site that the City still uses as an open sewer, in a flood zone. Let's join forces to tell the City and Councilmembers Brad Lander and Stephen Levin that the massive rezone they are proposing is all wrong for Gowanus.

Café Rezone is the newest venture of Voice Of Gowanus, the coalition of community organizations and individual citizens for a healthy and sustainable neighborhood.

Voice Of Gowanus' Exclusive Café Rezoné Celebrates New Spring Menu And Location This Sunday. Don't Miss It!

This Sunday, Voice of Gowanus with Gowanus Artists in Alliance (GAIA) is re-opening its satirical pop-up Café Rezoné with a brand new menu at a new location. The event is an opportunity for the community to laugh, but also to learn about the absurdity of New York City's plan to build affordable housing near an EPA Superfund site that the City still uses as an open sewer, in a flood zone. Let's join forces to tell the City and Councilmembers Brad Lander and Stephen Levin that the massive rezone they are proposing is all wrong for Gowanus.

Café Rezoné Celebrates New Spring Location - See What Chef De Blaz Is Cooking Up For Gowanus!

Sunday, March 21st – 11:30 am, then again at 12:15 pm – both at Carroll Park

Location: Smith Street at Carroll Street across from 335 Smith Street

Ready to spring forward into a gloriously gentrified, positively Williamsburg’d Gowanus? Not getting enough toxic waste or tax credits in your diet? Join us Sunday, March 21st at the Café Rezoné, a special spring equinox outdoor pop-up highlighting the menu of delights to come if the Gowanus rezoning gets approved.

Stop by to pick up the full menu and see what’s being served up in the rezone by Chef De Blasio and Sous Chefs Lander and Levin!

You’ll find only the most exclusive, rarified diners sitting at red-checked tables. Come taste something foully enchanting before the place gets demolished.

MENU SNEAK PREVIEW:
Three-eyed fish with denied public access demi-glace
Free range Flood Risk from FEMA farms *We use only Zone A for maximum flooding**Soup du sewer: Speculator Stew (deals, eels, and possibly you)
Raw greed *flown in daily from Westchester*
Nothing for NYCHA Nachos (with side of shredded neglect)
Raw sewage salad, with black mayonnaise *House specialty*
Char-grilled lobbying dollars with a manufacturing reduction
Pan-seared Public Place Toxins
Fricassee of Luxury Unit drizzled with CSO sauce
Racial displacement a la Gowanus
Twenty-Two Story Towers Tostada (with munchy MIH marzipan medley)

For more photos from a previous Café Rezoné opening on Feb. 21, 2021, click here.

To keep in touch with Voice of Gowanus, click here.

Oysters à la Sewage, Moules Brownfield And Ram It Through Roast: Just A Sampling At Voice Of Gowanus' Café Rezone

Café Rezone, Gowanus' newest trendy outdoor dining option made its debut for lunch today on 4th Avenue near the Old Stone House, serving such delicacies as Oysters à la Sewage, Free Range Flood Risk Du Jour, Ram It Through Roast and Carcinogenic Coal Tar Cake. The special of the day was Moules Brownfield. An equally innovative drinks list included the popular Mo' CSO Flow, The Bought Non-Profit, or Sludgie's Soul.

The upper echelon patrons of this very exclusive eatery thanked Chef Hizzoner de Blaz and Sous-Chefs Member Lander and Member Levin for what they were cooking up at the Rezone, and were delighted that the menu did not include a Racial Impact Study and raised their glass to displacement.

A second seating of this special toxic outdoor bistro was provided on Union Street a bit later. Make sure to make your reservation soon before this outdoor pop-up is demolished.

Café Rezone is the newest venture of Voice Of Gowanus, the coalition of community organizations and individual citizens for a healthy and sustainable neighborhood.