‘Like buying a pig in a poke’
City announces little new info on Gowanus rezoning, promises more meetings
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 9
— but that he couldn’t
commit to revealing more
about fi nancing yet, as the
city faces cratering revenues
due to COVID-19.
“As you know, the
city’s budget situation obviously
presents new challenges
right now,” he said.
“We are working through
them and we must work
through them and we’re
going to work on the proposal
and get back to the
community as soon as we
can.”
The coronavirus has
also prompted the city to
delay building crucial retention
tanks to keep the
Gowanus from re-polluting
until 2032, but Keller
was confi dent that the ongoing
federal Superfund
cleanup — which starts
next month — will be done
by the time the rezoning’s
changes are in full effect
15 years from now.
“At the moment, it’s
not anticipated that these
would be online, and that
we’re coordinating and
planning with the Department
of Environmental
Protection so that the
canal and the remediation
is intact, and that we
have a clean canal and
neighborhood,” he said.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
This could have been
an email.
After almost a year
of radio silence from the
city about the future of
the hotly-contested Gowanus
rezoning, planners
fi nally held a virtual
meeting with community
members on Oct. 22
— but frustrated locals
were left with just scant
details about the neighborhood
wide land use
proposal, angering many
who demanded more information
before the process
offi cially kicks off in
January.
“When we talked about
a pre-certifi cation meeting,
we meant more than
this,” said Jerry Armer
of Community Board 6,
which hosted the meeting
on Zoom. “What’s the
meat on the bones? And
what are the bones before
we have to really vote on
it? Otherwise it’s going to
be like buying a pig in a
poke.”
The Department of
City Planning’s head rep
of the rezoning assured locals
there would be more
concrete information to
come at three future virtual
gatherings — saying
this meeting, which over
350 people attended, was
simply to “touch base.”
“We’ve tried to make
clear, tonight was not
to get into the weeds, if
you will,” said Jonathan
Keller.
At the fi rst upcoming
meeting, which is slated
for Nov. 19, city offi cials
will give an update on the
Gowanus Green site, also
known as Public Place.
Once that heavily-polluted
site at Smith Street
is cleared for construction,
offi cials plan to build
a 28-story building complex
on the city-owned
lot near Fifth Street —
which will house 1,000 below
market rate homes, a
school, a retail strip, and
a waterfront park.
On Dec. 2, planners
will return for an “infrastructure
update” to talk
with locals about how
the neighborhood around
the noxious canal will
handle an infl ux of up to
20,000 new residents and
the accompanying sewage
increase, along with
the highly-anticipated
“bonuses” for transit and
schools.
The third meeting before
the Uniform Land
Use Review Procedure’s
January kick off will focus
on the affordability
of the projected 3,000 new
below-market-rate units
— out of 8,200 total new
apartments — that the rezoning
will bring by 2035.
That meeting’s date is not
yet offi cial.
But, with just over
three months to go until
ULURP commences, attendees
said that bureaucrats
should stop being
coy, especially given that
agency reps, local politicians,
and community
groups have been working
on redeveloping the
Gowanus for the better
part of a decade.
“I wanted to attend
the meeting tonight to get
more specifi cs on the rezoning
and have been very
disappointed,” said Lisa
Lightbody in the Zoom’s
chat panel. “We have gone
through such a long process,
why is the review of
the actual details being so
compressed?”
In particular, the DCP
rep remained tight-lipped
about what the rezoning
would do to remedy the dilapidated
area New York
City Housing Authority
developments — Gowanus
Houses and Wyckoff
Gardens.
Local Councilman
Brad Lander assured the
listeners that upgrades to
the public housing complexes
were key to securing
his yes-vote on the
proposal.
“Unless this rezoning
contributes to signifi
cantly addressing the
issues, the dilapidated
conditions in Gowanus
and Wyckoff, then it’s not
in my opinion worthy of
moving forward,” Lander
said at the meeting.
After multiple NYCHA
related questions,
Keller said he understood
that funding public housing
was the “lynchpin” to
move the plans forward
NEWLY CONSTRUCTED APARTMENTS FOR RENT
Fountain Seaview LP – B6 is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for 354 affordable housing rental
apartments now under construction at 894 Fountain Ave in the East New York section of Brooklyn. This building is being
constructed through the Low-Income Housing Credit Program (LIHC) of the New York State Homes and Community Renewal
and the New Construction Capital Program (NCP) of the NYS Housing Finance Agency. The size, rent and targeted income
distribution for the 354 apartments are as follows:
Unit Size
30% AREA MEDIAN INCOME
(AMI) UNITS
Monthly
Rent1
Units
Available
Household
Size2
Annual Household
Income3
Minimum – Maximum4
40% AREA MEDIAN INCOME
(AMI) UNITS
Monthly
Rent1
Units
Available
Household
Size2
Annual Household
Income3
Minimum – Maximum4
Studio $397 11 1 person $ 15,806 - $ 23,880 $567 11 1 person $ 21,635 - $ 31,840
1 person $ 19,715 - $ 23,880
1 person $ 27,052 - $ 31,840
1 bedroom $503 20
$717 20
2 people $ 19,715 - $ 27,300 2 people $ 27,052 - $ 36,400
2 bedroom $598 10
2 people $ 23,692 - $ 27,300
$854 10
2 people $ 32,469 - $ 36,400
3 people $ 23,692 - $ 30,720 3 people $ 32,469 - $ 40,960
4 people $ 23,692 - $ 34,110 4 people $ 32,469 - $ 45,480
3 bedroom $683 2
3 people $ 27,360 - $ 30,720
$978 2
3 people $ 37,475 - $ 40,960
4 people $ 27,360 - $ 34,110 4 people $ 37,475 - $ 45,480
5 people $ 27,360 - $ 36,840 5 people $ 37,475 - $ 49,120
6 people $ 27,360 - $ 39,570 6 people $ 37,475 - $ 52,760
Unit Size
60% AREA MEDIAN INCOME
(AMI) UNITS
Monthly
Rent1
Units
Available
Household
Size2
Annual Household
Income3
Minimum – Maximum4
80% AREA MEDIAN INCOME
(AMI) UNITS
Monthly
Rent1
Units
Available
Household
Size2
Annual Household
Income3
Minimum – Maximum4
Studio $909 30 1 person $ 33,360 - $ 47,760 $1,302 20 1 person $ 46,835 - $ 63,680
1 person $ 41,658 - $ 47,760
1 person $ 58,492 - $ 63,680
1 bedroom $1,143 75
$1,634 40
2 people $ 41,658 - $ 54,600 2 people $ 58,492 - $ 72,800
2 bedroom $1,366 63
2 people $ 50,023 - $ 54,600
$1,955 22
2 people $ 70,218 - $ 72,800
3 people $ 50,023 - $ 61,440 3 people $ 70,218 - $ 81,920
4 people $ 50,023 - $ 68,220 4 people $ 70,218 - $ 90,960
3 bedroom $1,570 15
3 people $ 57,772 - $ 61,440
$2,250 3
3 people $ 81,086 - $ 81,920
4 people $ 57,772 - $ 68,220 4 people $ 81,086 - $ 90,960
5 people $ 57,772 - $ 73,680 5 people $ 81,086 - $ 98,240
6 people $ 57,772 - $ 79,140 6 people $ 81,086 - $ 105,520
1 Rent includes gas for cooking and heating. Tenant is responsible for electricity
2 Household size includes everyone who will live with you, including parents and children. Subject to occupancy criteria.
3 Household earnings includes salary, hourly wages, tips, Social Security, child support, and other income. Income guidelines subject to
change.
4 Minimum income listed may not apply to applicants with Section 8 or other qualifying rental subsidies.
Qualified Applicants will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria. To request an application, mail
a POSTCARD or a SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE to: Fountain Seaview LP – B6, 1044 Northern Blvd. – 2nd Fl, Roslyn,
New York 11576. An application can also be requested via email at b6lottery@progressivemgmt.net. Completed
applications must be returned by regular mail only (no priority, certified, registered, express or overnight mail will be
accepted) to a post office box number that will be listed on the application, and must be postmarked by December 28,
2020. Applications postmarked after December 28, 2020 will be set aside for possible future consideration. Applications will be
selected by lottery; Applicants who submit more than one application will be disqualified. Duplicated applications will not be
accepted. A general preference will be given to New York City residents. Units will be available pursuant to the Fair Housing
Act’s equal opportunity and accessibility requirements and the accessibility requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act. The project will be posted on NYHousingSearch.gov and is a 100% Smoke Free property.
LOTTERY will be held VIA LIVESTREAM on January 5, 2021. Please visit our page on December 30, 2020 for further details:
https://www.facebook.com/PROGRESSIVEMANAGEMENTOFNY/.
No Broker’s Fee. No Application Fee.
ANDREW M. CUOMO, GOVERNOR BILL de BLASIO, Mayor
New York State Homes and Community Renewal
RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner/CEO
www.nyc.gov/housing
/NYHousingSearch.gov
/
/housing
link
/
/housing
link