BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Local Assemblywoman Jo
Anne Simon is calling on city
offi cials to pause the planned
Gowanus rezoning, arguing
that the COVID-19 pandemic
has stripped locals’ ability to
weigh in on the hotly-contested
proposal.
“To be able to coordinate,
cheer, clap and even boo from
time to time is an essential part
of the process – and that can
only happen at a large, in-person
meeting, the kind where it’s
possible to hold signs or wear
clothing sporting advocacy
messages,” Simon wrote in an
August 3 op-ed in City Limits,
which was co-authored by the
Gowanus Canal Dredgers Canoe
Club’s captin Brad Vogel.
The pol and the paddler argue
that virtual hearings on
web-conferencing give offi cials
too much power to stifl e public
input by cutting people’s mics,
unlike in person meetings,
which are often very roudy.
“City offi cials, as we’ve seen,
have total power to mute an attendee
in a virtual meeting –
cutting off another one of the
classic avenues open to a citizen
attending a public meeting: the
ability to fi nish your point after
an offi cial has cut you off,” they
wrote.
COURIER L 4 IFE, AUGUST 7-13, 2020
Not long after the news site
published the op-ed, the Department
of City Planning — which
is tasked with overseeing the
rezoning — announced that
uniform land use review procedures,
known as ULURP, would
resume citywide on Sept. 14, six
months after Mayor Bill de Blasio
suspended the process due
to the coronavirus outbreak.
DCP still has to complete
a draft environmental impact
statement for the proposed Gowanus
rezoning, which would formally
trigger the seven-month
review process.
Agency spokesman Joe
Marvilli declined to disclose
when that will happen, but said
that offi cials still want to push
ahead with the rezoning.
Simon and Vogel conceded
that virtual hearings work for
some civic meetings, and can
in fact widen participation for
people who can better take part
remotely — like community
boards and the Landmarks
Preservation Committee,
which have held dozens of hearings
online since March.
But the third-term Assemblywoman
told Brooklyn Paper
that the Gowanus rezoning
will have many more far-reaching
impacts than other smaller
developments — including on
the environment, housing, and
businesses — and contended
that online hearings would diminish
one of the few meaningful
public input sessions available
during the process.
“This is a huge rezoning effort,
it’s not the ULURP of a
building or two blocks,” she
said. “We’re cutting off a lot of
the value of the actual engagement.
It makes it a more hollow
experience.”
Local Councilman Brad
Lander, who has been eager to
see the rezoning move ahead,
previously contended that the
community has been highly involved
over the years, and will
continue to be in the future.
“The Gowanus process —
love it or hate it — has been one
of the most participatory processes,
maybe in the history
of planet earth,” the legislator
said in June.
Jo Anne Simon. Jason Speakman
A rendering of what the Gownaus might look like after the proposed rezoning
of the industrial neighborhood. Department of City Planning
No-go in Gowanus?
Local Assemblywoman joins call to pause rezoning
NEED A LAWYER? TRUST EXPERIENCE
• DIVORCE - Uncontested and Contested
• VISITATION • PATERNITY
• WILLS, PROBATE & ESTATES
• FAMILY LAW
• REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS
• SURROGATE'S COURT LITIGATION
• CHILD SUPPORT & CUSTODY
• TRAFFIC COURT
• ELDER LAW
FREE CONSULTATION
ON ALL ACCIDENT CASES
Auto-Bus-Truck-Taxi-Subway Accidents-Slip &
Fall - Nursing Home Neglect-Wrongful Death
Office Appointments Available
Zoom-Skype and FaceTime Consultations
2020 BESTOFB K.COM
BEST DIVORCE
ATTORNEY
/K.COM
