(Left) Locals gathered at the Old Stone House in Park Slope
to hear about the Gowanus rezoning on June 3. (Above)
Area Councilmember Brad Lander pleads his case.
Photos by Kevin Duggan
COURIER LIFE, JUNE 11-17, 2021 43
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Dozens of locals came to
a Park Slope park on June 3
to voice their thoughts on the
city’s controversial Gowanus
rezoning as part of a court-ordered,
hybrid virtual and inperson
public hearing.
Residents detailed their
support and concerns for the
neighborhood-wide rezoning
at the Old Stone House in
Washington Park on Third
Street, between Fourth and
Fifth avenues, with one
nearby local saying the city
and politicians should approve
the plans to add thousands
of new housing units
to the low slung mostly-industrial
nabe along the toxic
Gowanus Canal.
“I really believe our district
should do more to build
more housing for more people,”
said Carroll Gardens
resident Michael Thornton.
“If there was more housing
built in somewhere like
Gowanus, our opportunities
would increase and it would
increase for lots of other folks
in the neighborhood too.”
The city’s complex scheme
covers 82 blocks of Gowanus
and would allow the creation
of some 8,500 new housing
units, including 3,000 at below
market rates over the
next 15 years, in addition to
a new park along the canal
and commercial and retail
spaces.
The Department of City
Planning — the agency overseeing
the rezoning — was
forced to work with the area’s
community boards to come
up with an in-person component
for its virtual Zoom
hearings as part of the city’s
lengthy Uniform Land Use
Review Procedure, after a
Brooklyn Supreme Court
Judge ordered offi cials to
better accommodate Brooklynites
without internet access.
Justice Katherine Levine’s
decision came after a threemonth
legal battle, following
a lawsuit by locals opposed
to the rezoning, who claimed
that the city’s plan for an allvirtual
ULURP process was
illegal.
DCP set up television
monitors and seating around
the greenspace for folks to
tune in, and attendees who
signed up to speak could give
their comments from a booth
within the Old Stone House,
which broadcast to the Zoom
meeting.
Some 150 people signed
up to speak, each given twominute
slots, and the agency
allowed for a lengthy window
to testify starting at around 4
pm and lasting until 11 pm.
In an only-in-Gowanus
moment, a band named The
Resistance Company started
playing loud riffs on the sidewalk
outside the park around
6 pm with lyrics like, “Vote
No, Gowanus rezoning,”
while other artists opposed
to the proposal held signs beside
them.
One local artist and resident
told Brooklyn Paper she
was worried about environmental
dangers to new residents
living along the polluted
canal and that the infl ux of
new development would price
her out of her apartment and
the studio
space she rents for her
photography and music.
“Having children near a
Superfund site is bad news
and the displacement of local
artists and musician is a real
concern,” said Joan Hacker.
“Where am I supposed to live,
where am I supposed to go,
how am I supposed to make
work.”
The canal is currently undergoing
a roughly 10-year
Superfund Cleanup overseen
by the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Ahead of the lengthy afternoon
and evening hearing, a
cadre of local housing, business,
artist, and environmentalist
groups under the banner
Gowanus Neighborhood
Coalition for Justice rallied
outside the park, laying out
three demands the city must
meet to get their approval.
GNCJ’s demands include
full upfront funding for the
two local New York City
Housing developments, Gowanus
Houses and Wyckoff
Gardens, which both have
some $274 million in repair
needs, no additional pollution
through sewage and
stormwater overfl ows, and a
community task force to hold
the city to its commitments
under the plan.
Those asks also got the
support of local councilmembers
Brad Lander and Stephen
Levin, who could veto
the project when it comes
before the City Council later
this year.
“When it reaches the City
Council, Steve and I are committed
to making sure those
three core demands of GNCJ
are met before we will vote in
favor of any Gowanus rezoning,”
said Lander at the rally.
“The fact that there is still no
meaningful offer on the table
— honestly no offer on the
table whatsoever … is unacceptable.”
The proposal will come
before Community Board
6’s Land Use Committee for
a recommendation on June
17, before it comes to the full
board for a purely advisory
vote.
The rezoning will then
make its way to Borough
President Eric Adams’s offi ce
for another advisory recommendation,
and to the City
Planning Commission and
the City Council for two binding
votes.
GO-ON, PLEASE
Locals speak out at hybrid online, in-person
Gowanus rezoning hearing in Park Slope
The fact that there
is still no meaningful
offer on the table —
honestly, no offer on
the table whatsover
... is unacceptable.