Councilman Brad Lander and Cobble Hill Association President Roy Sloane
Councilman Brad Lander
CHA president Roy Sloane
Last night, the Cobble Hill Association hosted its third Community Roundtable discussion at Christ Church on Clinton Street. The group's guest this time was Councilman Brad Lander.
(Previous guests have been Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and State Senator Daniel Squadron.)
Brad Lander, who is three months into his four year term as our City Councilman, introduced his Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens liaison Michael Curtin to the members of the audience, who mostly came from those two neighborhoods. Before taking questions from the audience, Brad addressed some of the issues in the 39th Council District that his office is currently working on.
In order to identify and address potentially dangerous conditions at stalled development sites in the district, Lander's office has created an interactive website, which allow neighbors to provide feedback and report issues at these sites. (click here to access site)
The councilman spoke about the "Fix The Ditch" improvement project to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway trench in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens and the Columbia Waterfront, which will hopefully mitigate the noise and pollution of heavy traffic along that roadway. He reminded everyone of the May 4th meeting on the subject. ( For meeting info, click here.)
Lander also addressed the proposed extension of the Carroll Gardens Historic District.
As the chairperson of the subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Use, he has formally requested that the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission study Carroll Gardens to determine what portion of the neighborhood may be eligible for landmark protection.
"It is the first step in the process" he stated. When asked, he said that he is " favorably inclined" to expanding the neighborhood's landmark district, but reminded everyone that it is essential to build neighborhood support through outreach and communication.
Another topic discussed last night was the severity of the proposed budget cuts and the resulting hard choices facing this city during these difficult financial times.
Several members in the audience addressed the M.T.A.'s cuts to local bus routes, especially the B71 and B 75. Since people with handicaps, the elderly and mothers with children rely on many of our bus lines, it was felt that the cuts would affect them especially.
Brad Lander mentioned that he is "very pleased" that the Environmental Protection Agency designated the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site. He complimented the EPA by saying that the agency is a model of how a federal agency should communicate with the affected community and that it has inspired a lot of confidence. He hopes that the Community Advisory Group that will be formed as part of the Superfund process will broaden the scope of discussion to include water quality and the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), bulkheads and brownfield clean-ups.
The mention of the Gowanus Canal Superfund designation and of Brownfield clean-up prompted Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) member Margaret Maugenest to ask Councilman Brad Lander to help the community revisit the heavily polluted, long-neglected 5.8 acre Public Place site along the Gowanus Canal. Public Place was handed over to the Park's Department in the 1970's as a "public place for parks and recreation." It is still on the books as a public space.
Instead, New York City has different plans for the site. In 2007, after five developers put in their bids and proposals for Public Place, the city unveiled Rogers Marvel Architects winning design, "Gowanus Green," a 700+ mixed-income housing development by The Hudson Companies. A partner in the proposal is the Fifth Avenue Committee (where Brad Lander was executive director for a decade.)
Councilman Lander seemed less than enthused by Ms. Maugenest's request to open up the discussion again. He cited that the New York City Department of Planning and Community Board 6 had numerous public meetings on the subject. He stated that he is supportive of the Gowanus Green project and eager to increase affordable housing in the city.
Here is the exchange on video:
Marlene Donnelly, also of F.R.O.G.G., commented that the public meetings held by NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) did not give the community the possibility of leaving the site as a place of recreation in the public meetings.
(Click on the video to hear Ms. Donnelly's argument)
Glenn Kelly of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association suggests that the city's proposed zoning and development for both the Public Place site and the Gowanus Canal area could be much better and need to be re-visited. It is too dense and does not reflect what the community wants.
(Click on the video below)
It was a very interesting exchange. The community should continue to engage Brad Lander and our other elected officials in a Gowanus Canal land-use discussion right now.
As far as I am concerned, in light of the EPA's Superfund designation of the Gowanus Canal, everything is back on the table, including Public Place.
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