Velázquez Urges Superfund Designation for Gowanus Canal And Newtown Creek

****News Flash****

“Securing a healthy environment for New York City families is the single most important factor in choosing a course of action for cleaning both the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek."

Nydia Velázquez

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez is the latest elected official to release a pro-EPA Superfund statement for the Gowanus Canal. By doing so, she joins fellow politicians

NYS Senators Daniel Squadron and Velmanette Montgomery, as well as Assemblywoman Joan Millman, who already openly support the Superfund listing of the dangerously polluted waterway.

My thanks goes out to Representative Velázquez, Squadron, Montgomery and Millman for putting the health of their constituents above all.

Lets hope that Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, still-Councilman Bill DeBlasio, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand will follow suite.

Read Velázquez's statement below:

Velázquez Urges Superfund Designation for Gowanus, Newtown

Says EPA Has Resources, Expertise to Clean Up Polluted Waterways

Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) issued the following
statement today urging the Environmental Protection Agency to complete
its review and designate the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek as federal
Superfund sites:

“Securing a healthy environment for New York City families is the single
most important factor in choosing a course of action for cleaning both
the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek. Superfund designation will
thoroughly remove hazards and transform these waterways into a source of
pride for our community.

“Among the most contaminated sites in the country, the Gowanus Canal and
Newtown Creek have threatened the health of New Yorkers for long enough
and kept these neighborhoods from realizing their full potential. With
nearly three decades of experience, the EPA has the expertise and
resources to carry out a comprehensive remediation of these sites,
creating a safe place for New Yorkers to live and work. Through the
EPA’s help, these local treasures will become a revitalized waterfront
for the people of Brooklyn.

“The Superfund program establishes an equitable process for restoring
accountability and invigorating the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek.
What we have before us is a means to fully protect the well being of New
Yorkers, as well as ensure future growth and responsible development in
our neighborhoods.

“Efforts to transform Brooklyn’s waterfront have brought the community
together and have resulted in the many innovative projects underway.
Superfund designation will complement these efforts. By working together
we will fully restore both the functionality and beauty of these sites.”

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Superfund Gowanus: Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus (F.R.O.G.G.) Release Video

Dear Reader, I hope you will take a few minutes to view this incredibly well done and informative video on the proposed Superfund Site designation for the Gowanus Canal.
The members of 'Friends And Residents of Greater Gowanus', or F.R.O.G.G., urge you to support the designation.

Bravo!!!
Great job, Margaret, Marlene, Lisanne, Bette and Mike. I am proud of you!

Sign The Superfund Now! petition
Here

Please also go to Found In Brooklyn for further information

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State Senator Squadron Announces He Is FOR Gowanus Superfund Designation!

State Senator Daniel Squadron at last month's EPA Superfund meeting

Great News! Yesterday, State Senator Daniel Squadron announced that he is for the Gowanus Canal Superfund designation.

Daniel Squadron and his staff had hinted last week that the State Senator was about to issue a statement regarding the EPA's proposal to include the Gowanus Canal to its list of Superfund sites. After meeting with the city as well as with the EPA, the State Senator came to an informed conclusion. Here is his statement:

On April 8, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had nominated the Gowanus Canal for consideration to be added to the National Priorities List (NPL), more commonly known as the Superfund list. If added to the NPL, the Gowanus would be entered into the EPA's cleanup program, which would include intensive study and analysis of the nature of the hazardous materials and pollutants within the canal, identification of the parties that have been responsible for the pollution, and a supervised cleanup.

Though the pressure to immediately announce a position on this issue was great, this is an enormously complex issue that cannot be decided based on headlines alone; the decisions we make now will have profound, long-ranging consequences for the local community and the effort to clean and revitalize the Gowanus. Given the gravity of such a designation, my staff and I have been working to fully understand the impact that Superfund designation would have for the canal, including the water, the silt and upland portions, and the health and welfare of the community. I investigated sites from around the country, evaluating where a Superfund designation has led to progress and where communities have succeeded with the Superfund Alternative Approach. I met and spoke with the relevant agencies, as well as Gowanus area residents, community organizations and Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs).

Over the course of these meetings, several parties indicated their belief that the Superfund Alternative Approach (SAA) program, also administered and managed by the EPA, might better achieve a positive outcome. I have concluded that while the SAA has proven to be a useful alternative for sites where there are one or two PRPs, in the case of the Gowanus it is highly unlikely that all of the PRPs will be easily identifiable, or will voluntarily accept responsibility. I also am not convinced that the SAA will guarantee the same transparency, leverage and long-term comprehensive outcomes as the Superfund program. Of course, any scenario, including the SAA, that offered additional federal dollars while meeting the standards of Superfund would be ideal. However, the burden in ensuring that such an alternative would in fact match Superfund's benefits, and bring added value, is high.

For this reason and others, I support listing the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site. Based on the conversations I have had and the commitments that have been made, I have concluded that listing the Canal on the NPL is the best strategy for achieving a comprehensive and timely cleanup of the canal and the sources of its contamination. Superfund designation would deliver appropriate oversight to the EPA, which has a unique ability to work with other levels of government, PRP's and the community to address a complicated site like the canal.

To continue reading statement, click here

Well done, Senator Squadron!

Let's hope that some of our other elected officials will finally come the fence or change their minds regarding the Superfund designation as well. How about it, Councilman De Blasio?


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'City Limits' Takes An In-Depth Look At Councilman Bill DeBlasio's Political Career

Photo Credit: City Limits

City Limits reporter Jarrett Murphy takes a look at the political career of City Councilman Bill DeBlasio who is running for Public Advocate. The article considers his years as our councilman, including some of the controversies during his two terms in office , such as the Atlantic Yards and the Gowanus Canal.
Murphy even goes back to the days of DeBlasio's stint as a District 15 school board member and the financial mismanagement of then- Superintendent Frank DeStefano (with a quote from yours truly, Ms. Pardon Me.)
Here are some excerpts from the article:

**In 1999 de Blasio left HUD to run Hillary Clinton's campaign for U.S. Senate. Around the same time, he won a seat on his local nine-member community school board (a part of the school system that no longer exists). During de Blasio's tenure some parents in the district began to raise questions about the leadership style and fiscal practices of local superintendent Frank DeStefano. They took their concerns to de Blasio.
"He listened. He's very good at listening. He took notes. Asked really great questions," recalls Katia Kelly, one of the parents. But even as concerns about DeStefano mounted, deBlasio defended him. DeStefano ultimately resigned in 2001 as it emerged he had amassed $57,000 in car service bills, spent heavily on conferences and retreats and driven the district to a $1 million deficit. "I thought [de Blasio] was really going to look into it," says Kelly. "Turns out, he wasn't."

**De Blasio's harshest critics find fault with his approach to development in and around his district, which includes parts of Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Kensington, Borough Park and more. While de Blasio has opposed some projects, he has largely supported rezonings—in Park Slope, South Slope and Gowanus—that protect certain low-density areas at the cost of allowing significantly heavier development (and, defenders say, the chance for more affordable housing) nearby.
Marlene Donnelly, an activist in Gowanus, recalls when she and other neighbors mounted opposition to a developer who wanted a zoning variance in 2004. "De Blasio had his aide call us, saying, 'Stop opposing this or this developer's going to build the ugliest industrial building and it's going to ruin your community,'" she recalls. The developer lost. The ugly building never materialized. But other projects de Blasio backed are getting built.

**The most high-profile project in Brooklyn, of course, is Atlantic Yards, which falls close to his district and which de Blasio backed from the beginning. Only last year—well after demolition had begun on the site—did de Blasio say he wanted a moratorium on tear-downs until it was clear that the developer, Forest City Ratner, would make good on its promises of affordable housing and jobs."I'm obviously not satisfied with how the process unfolded," de Blasio says. "I think there was an opportunity to take the initial vision which was in the community benefits agreement and involve the community and figure out a way to achieve what was in the [agreement] in a way that was acceptable. I really think that didn’t happen."Foes of Atlantic Yards don’t think de Blasio's late-day skepticism is genuine. "He has supported Atlantic Yards uncritically for years and now, like nearly every other supporter, has modified his position by picking away at this thing or that thing or 'I support it if [blank],'" says Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein.

To read the entire article (and I highly recommend it), click here

The race for Public Advocate will be an interesting one. Do you think that Councilman Bill DeBlasio's record in our district will help or hurt his run for this office?

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Gowanus Superfund: City And Elected Officials Spinning As Fast As They Can

Last Night's C.G.N.A. meeting at the Hannah Senesh School

Maria Pagano, C.G.N.A. President

Caswell Holloway, Chief of Staff for Deputy Mayor Schyler

Joshua Verleun, Staff Attorney and Investigator for Riverkeeper, Inc.

Lauren Collins, Acting Director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Buddy Scotto

David Von Spreckelsen ( Foreground) Toll Brothers' V.P.

who is lobbying the city to reject the Superfund.

Gowanus Superfund: City Official Taking Questions

Jim Vogel, Spokesperson for State Senator Velmanette Montgomery

Thank goodness the EPA will either designate the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site or not purely based on science, because if the agency could be influenced by our elected officials, we would all literally be up shit creek.

For the last two weeks, our electeds have been 'spinning' and closing ranks as fast as they can in regards to the Gowanus Canal Superfund nomination. Mayor Bloomberg had been the first to announce that he is against the nomination. Councilman Bill DeBlasio was right behind him. Others, such as Assemblywoman Joan Millman, have been sitting on the fence ever since. Most surprisingly, State Senator Daniel Squadron, who had shown such promise as a forward thinking politician, willing to engage and to listen to his constituents, failed to show any leadership in this matter. What a great disappointment.
The sole politician who came out in favor of Superfund has been State Senator Velmanette Montgomery. Her willingness to follow her conscience is admirable.

Speaking as one, those less courageous politicians have been advertising an alternative plan to EPA's Superfund designation for the Gowanus Canal. What exactly this alternative plan entailed was not revealed to the community until last night, when Caswell Holloway, Chief of Staff for Deputy Mayor Schyler finally 'enlightened' the community at the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association meeting on Monday evening.

So what is this plan? Simply speaking, it entails a "faster, more efficient clean-up" which is up to EPA's standard, without the stigma associated with the Superfund name. The only difference I could detect between the city's proposal and the EPA's
Superfund program seemed to be the way responsible polluters would be brought to task for the clean-up. The city's plan would ask the polluters to come to the table 'voluntarily,' Mr. Holloway stated. The other difference, of course, is in the name Superfund.

It was clear from many of the questions asked by the audience, that there is much scepticism that the city can get the canal cleaned as thoroughly as the EPA.
Someone in the audience wanted to know why the city was mirroring the efforts of the EPA instead of letting the agency handle the clean-up. Another wanted to know why the city had neglected the canal for so many decades, just to be playing catch-up to the EPA now. Yet another asked Mr. Holloway if the city would still go forward with a clean-up even if the Gowanus area's rezoning from industrial to residential may not.

One thing became incredibly clear to me while I listened to Mr. Holloway. Before the EPA stepped forward with their Superfund proposal for the canal, the city was going to do the very least it could do to clean the polluted waterway before allowing residential housing to be built on its shore. And that seemed to be all right with our elected officials.
Shame on them. They collectively failed to represent this community.
Lets all remember that when they want to get re-elected.

They owe the residents of Carroll Gardens and Greater Gowanus an apology.


More video to come as it uploads.

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Regarding Gowanus Superfund Designation, Our Local Pols Are Showing Incredible Lack Of Leadership

From the moment it was made public that the E.P.A. had proposed the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site, our local politicians have shown an incredible lack of leadership and an amazing disregard for their constituents' health. Pardon me for asking, but are they collectively committing political suicide?

Since Walter Mugden, of the US EPA stated at a public forum two weeks ago that the Gowanus Canal was so severely polluted that it easily fit the criteria to be included on their list of Superfunds, our politicians have been spinning this as a "complex issue" that needs careful consideration.

Now, truly, what exactly is there to consider?
It is all rather simple, I think.

Our city government has neglected the canal for decades and has contributed to its pollution by allowing raw sewage to flow into its waters every time it rains. That makes the city one of the canal's biggest polluters. There is a half-hearted clean-up attempt being proposed by the city, but it was never going to dredge the whole canal to remove toxic materials. Even if it wanted to, New York City doesn't have the money anyway to do a thorough job. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg, with the support of our (mostly absent) City Councilmember Bill DeBlasio, had the glorious idea of opening up the Gowanus Canal area for residential use and allowing individual developers to clean their building sites (uplands only) themselves. What a concept: bring entire families to the shores of a terribly polluted waterway and hope for the best! Now that is real advocacy for one's constituents.

The NYS Dept. Of Environmental Conservation wanted to do a more thorough clean-up, but realized that it was too big and complex of a job, so they reached out to the federal government and asked for help. I tend to think that someone at DEC had a conscience and realized that our politicians were going to put people's lives at risk by having them live in apartments next to an open sewer, so they wisely brought in the EPA.

According to Walter Mugden of the EPA, it only took his agency one of its tests to determine that the Gowanus canal met the requirements for a Superfund site. More were not needed after the first reading. Yes, it is extremely toxic, probably more so than residents even imagined.
The EPA has stepped forward and has promised a comprehensive clean-up.

Now, one would think that our elected officials would say "Thank You Very Much For Your Help" to the EPA, but that is not the case. Mayor Bloomberg immediately announced that his administration didn't need any &%^$#@ help from the EPA. Councilmember DeBlasio was a little more subtle, but stated that the Feds would "just get in the way" of a Gowanus Canal clean-up. He opined that "You don't want to drink out of it, you don't want to eat fish out of it, but it is not a danger to live near it."
Well thank you, Professor DeBlasio!

But DeBlasio must have had a moment of self doubt when he wrote a letter to Lisa Jackson of the EPA in Washington DC on April 22nd 2009 to ask:

" Is part of the basis of the proposed designation that people eat fish caught at the mouth of the canal? Is there a clear causal link between the canal sediment and levels of toxins in fish caught in NY Harbor? Is there any other predicted risk to the health of the residents or workers along the banks of the Gowanus under normal living or working conditions now?"

Maybe, Mr.DeBlasio should have asked EPA these questions a long time ago, before he advocated rezoning the area to residential.

And how about our other elected officials?
Just today, it was announced that the EPA had extended the 60 day public comment period by an additional 30 days after Councilmember deBlasio, Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Congresswoman Nydia Vélazquez requested more time to consider the risks to our citizens which have not concerned them until now.
Ms. Millman explains her request to EPA by stating: "This is a complicated situation, with a sad history of neglect and inactivity."
Exactly my point, Ms. Millman!
Had these officials reached out to the EPA when they first took office, the canal might be clean already.
Now they are dragging this out even longer. Funny that the community never received more time to comment on the Toll Brothers' spot-rezoning. That was a 'complex' issue as well.

It sure feels as though this community is fighting its own politicians. Silly me, all this time, I thought that they were representing us.
I have written off deBlasio, but I sure hope the others will get off the fence soon and follow their conscience. And that includes newly-elected NY State Senator Daniel Squadron and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.





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Earth Day or His Community's Health ($$$) Means Nothing to Councilman Bill DeBlasio (Found In Brooklyn)

Councilmember Bill DeBlasio

Raw Sewage Floating On The Gowanus Canal




Official Fema Map Showing Gowanus Area Is Flood Zone




Gowanus Area Flooded after heavy rain

What Public Advocate Would Advocate For Development
On Highly Toxic Canal In Fema Flood Zone?

Councilmember DeBlasio never ceases to amaze me. He consistently seems to be on the opposite side of the table from his constituents here in Carroll Gardens.

Today, in an article in the Daily News, he made it clear that he opposes the Superfund designation for the Gowanus Canal. Here are just a few quotes from the article.

"We, locally, have gotten our act together. The city's doing the right stuff. ... The Toll site will get cleaned up," de Blasio said, charging the feds would just "get in the way."

De Blasio conceded the city's plan is a "short-term" solution, but said funding for a comprehensive cleanup could be cobbled together from other sources and that the waterway is safe to live near.

"You don't want to drink out of it, you don't want to eat fish out of it, but it is not a danger to live near it," he said. (Daily News)

De Blasio has been an incredible disappointment for the last 7 1/2 years as our councilman. Personnaly, I can't wait till his term is over.
He has largely been absent during his two terms and totally absent for the last few months, while running his campaign.
But that is only my opinion. Whats yours?

How would you rate Bill DeBlasio's performance as our local councilman?

Related Reading:

Earth Day or His Community's Health ($$$) Means Nothing to Councilman Bill DeBlasio (Found In Brooklyn)

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What Exactly Is Councilmember DeBlasio Advocating For The Gowanus Canal?

“For years I have supported cleaning up the Gowanus Canal but I
believe to make real progress we need to involve the community. The
health and safety of the surrounding residents has always been my
number one concern. I still believe local economic projects are an
essential part of the cleanup effort. As the public offers feedback
over the next two months, the Federal and Local Government must work together with the community to find the best way to clean up the
canal," said Councilmember Bill de Blasio.

Since our councilmember was not in attendance at last week's forum on the E.P.A.'s proposed clean-up of the Gowanus Canal, many in the community wondered what Mr. DeBlasio's position might be.
If DeBlasio has a position, it is difficult to decipher from the statement his office released. In typical fashion, it is masterfully vague. What else can we expect from a politician during an election year?
But if DeBlasio has aspirations of becoming our next Public Advocate, it would be nice to know exactly what he is advocating for the Gowanus Canal area.

Here is what some of you thought of his statement:

Bill is going to listen to the community as long as its his community of developers. Why would he now listen to the residents of the community who live/work and play in Carroll Gardens, only because its an easy way out. He can sit on the sidelines and let the Feds do what is needed and then take the credit. Just like he has done for the past seven years.


de Blasio has laid out the opposition game plan here: "over the next two months, the Federal and Local Government must work together with the community to find the best way to clean up the canal," said Councilmember Bill de Blasio.
Now we know he isn't asking the EPA to come up with a cleanup plan in the next two months because the EPA doesn't start the planning until after designation. What he is calling for is some kind of compromise plan other than Superfund to be agreed on before comment period closing. The current tactic now is to drum fear into all the local residents so that they believe they will get a better deal out of the "compromise cleanup plan" than they will under Superfund.
It's so interesting to now see the city scramble to make a cleanup plan after years of avoiding any comprehensive approach to cleaning the canal. The city has had more than 30 years to bring the Gowanus into compliance with the Clean Water Act--and the current mayor has had 8 of those 30 years--and now we are to believe that they will pull together a workable plan over the next two months? And more galling, the city’s opposition to Superfund cleanup is over how long it might take!

He is going to join the City and the Toll boys in pressuring EPA not to finalize the listing. Anyone who wants to know how well a site gets cleaned up when it is held back from getting listed on the Superfund national priority list can look to some recent examples in NJ. Usually a few years pass, nothing happens, and it ends up getting listed anyway. Then everyone complains that it took EPA too long to do the cleanup. Meanwhile, the politicians who meddled with the listing in the first place are long gone, either in jail, on wall street, or some such other locale.


This posted statement of DeBlasio does not say anything. Its wishy-washy double-talk which doesnt answer the question it allegedly addresses.

Bill its simple - SuperFund status, yes or no?

If the City really had a plan there would have been a press conference or a big presentation. Neither Bill nor Mike are ones to miss a photo op.

I too think Bill De Blasio is trying to play it safe to see where the chips fall, but hey, at least he isn't actively opposing the listing of the canal, like the shameless Bloomberg administration. The Toll Brothers contingent has been SO heavy handed and thuggish in their attack on the EPA that they've put their politician-supporters like Bill in a tight spot. How can he argue that development comes before protection of human health and the environment, which is essentially the Toll Brothers' position? Eventually the canal will probably be listed since that is the only rational outcome, and the only way the canal will actually get cleaned up, and then Bill will run around holding meetings and so forth, to show that he's keeping an eye on the EPA to make sure it doesn't screw things up.

DeBlasio is so wishy-washy and unprincipled, he won't even stand behind the developers who have donated to him, let alone the actual community who live here now.

What do you think?

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Official Gowanus Superfund Statement From Councilman Bill DeBlasio

Below is the official statement from our Councilmember Bill DeBlasio regarding the nomination of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund. His District Manager Tom Gray sent it to me yesterday.

“For years I have supported cleaning up the Gowanus Canal but I
believe to make real progress we need to involve the community. The
health and safety of the surrounding residents has always been my
number one concern. I still believe local economic projects are an
essential part of the cleanup effort. As the public offers feedback
over the next two months, the Federal and Local Government must work together with the community to find the best way to clean up the
canal," said Councilmember Bill de Blasio.

The part about involving the community sounds great to me. That wasn't always the case.

What's your opinion, dear Reader?

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Mercury, Lead And Arsenic, To Name Just A Few Contaminents At Toll Brothers Gowanus Site

The ULURP process for the Toll Brothers' Gowanus project is fast coming to an end. Today, the members of the City Council's Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee will vote on the project before it moved on to the Land Use Committee and then to the full City Council.
The Zoning and Franchises vote should have taken place last Wednesday, but only the chairperson, Tony Avella, was present for the public hearing, so the matter was tabled.
Without having listened to one testimony from the community, the sub-committee members will make a decision which will change our neighborhood forever. Most likely, they will defer to our local Councilman Bill DeBlasio, who has been a cheerleader for the project all along.
DeBlasio is confident that the heavily polluted site can and will be cleaned up to make it habitable for hundreds of new residents.

Below is a report prepared by the Environmental Liability Management Of New York, L.L.C. in 2005 on 363 Bond Street, the Toll Brothers site. It was sent to me by a reader who obviously shares the concerns of many Gowanus and Carroll Gardens residents.
Pretty scary stuff...wouldn't you agree?

Toll Brother’s, May 31, 2005, PHASE II INVESTIGATION REPORT 363 Bond Street,
Prepared by: Environmental Liability Management of New York, LLC.

"On April 15, April 20 and 21 and on April 28, 2005, ELM conducted the Phase II Investigation activities, which consisted of the advancement of ten (10) soil borings, five (5) of which were completed as ground water monitoring wells.

Evidence of petroleum contamination (odors, staining or elevated photoionization detector [PID] readings) was noted in all ten soil borings/ground water monitoring wells installed during this investigation. Soil was noted to be saturated with product in two boring locations: MW-5 and SB-1. Additionally, free product was encountered in two monitoring wells: MW-3 and MW-5; however, no free product was noted in the soil samples collected from MW-3.

Elevated concentrations of VOCs, above New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [NYS DEC] Technical and Administrative Guidance Memorandum 4046 [TAGM 4046] Recommended Soil Cleanup Objectives [RSCO5]) were noted in soil in five sampling locations: MW-3, MW-5, SB-1, SB-3 and SB-4. …….

SVOCs were detected in soil at concentrations atypical of urban fill material in 6 boring locations: MW-2, MW-5, SB-1, SB-3, SB-4 and SB-S. One or more soil samples collected from each of these boring locations contained concentrations of total SVOCs above 100,000 ppb. Samples from two of the locations, MW-S and SB-1, contained concentrations of total SVOCs above 500,000 ppb, which is the TAGM 4046 RSCO for total SVOCs.

Pesticides were detected in soil above TAGM 4046 RSCOs in two boring locations: MW-2 and MW-5. Pesticides were also detected in ground water above Class GA Standards in MW-5.

Metals were detected in soil above TAGM 4046 RSCOs in all 20 soil samples collected. …. Mercury was detected at concentrations one order of magnitude greater than the TAGM 4046 RSCO of 0.1 ppm in soil collected from five boring locations: MW-2, MW-4, MW-5, SB-1 and SB-5. ….Lead was detected in soil at concentrations exceeding the upper limit of the average background level in metropolitan areas in one or more samples … Arsenic and lead were detected at concentrations above their respective Class GA concentrations in ground water collected from monitoring well MW-5." |elm|

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Reader Comments Of The Day

photo credit: premasagar on Flickr

Reader Comments On:
Carroll Gardens And Gowanus Residents Showed Up To Testify, But Council Members Not There To Hear Them

Anonymous said...

De Blasio was not present at the 2007 Toll scoping hearing to hear the community's concerns; he arrived at the end to make his statement. He was not present at any of the other hearings either to listen to the community. He was at the CB6 hearing only long enough to make his statement.
SO now he wants to hold additional meetings. Why are we listening to this guy?

Anonymous said...

I can't believe De Blasio is using the same old line of affordable housing needs and not wanting only one kind of people in a community. His 4th Ave upzoning threatens affordable housing and the mix of community as it "yuppifies" and "uglifies" the neighborhoods. Amazing that he will reassure Toll Bros., but not the community he represents. What a creep. And I would love greater detail about the cryptic exchange between De Blasio and Toll - that Toll needed the assurance that the subsidies were there for Toll to include affordable housing. This city is busted, but Toll wants subsidies. This neighborhood has become so less mixed in the 25 years I have lived here. Now Gowanus rezoning talk is threatening rent stabilized/controlled units already existing. When I hear developers and politicians say their motive for unpopular projects is their desire to create affordable housing, I know I am listening to double talk. Our politician should know better (WE'RE NOT DUMB DE BLASIO!)- and the developers should come up with some truth for once!

Anonymous said...

I agree that Bill was incredibly disengaged from Carroll Gardens for years and ignored constituents requests for help in regard to dangerous and illegal development until he was called out publicly via the neighborhood blogs and the community became impossible to ignore. He seems to resent having to deal with people in this section of his district unless they are pulling the strings at the IND.

Therese C. said...

The Tolls probably would LOVE it if there was just "one kind of people" in there, then they could just build this project without all this scrutiny.... I loved it when the Toll guy said he was "insulted" oe was it "offended" that there were children living near the canal. Well I am sorry, they are insulting the community with their project. I don't get that DeBlasio expects us to trust this "Fortune 500" company (which is frightening in March 2009) to have the responsiblity of cleaning up the canal. Has has he read the paper lately? and as far as him sort of being offended that the community doesn''t really feel he is there for us, ummmm i have seen the guy come to community board meetings, do his spiel about affordable housing and then leave before even bothering to listen when non community board members get to speak. I have nothing against Tom Grey but he is not our council person! Corporations have screwed us over. As Josh S. quoted Bob Toll, "Take the money and run!"

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Gowanus Area Resident Speaks Out Against Toll Brothers' Project

City Hall

Borough President Marty Markowitz testifying in front of
Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee Chair Tony Avella

Councilman Bill DeBlasio, left
(listening while texting during the hearing)

Toll Brothers' New York V.P. David Von Spreckelsen

John Hatheway, Architect, in background
Craig Hammerman, CB6 District Manager, foreground

John Heyer, Glenn Kelly, Josh Skaller & Gary Reilly

Buddy Scotto and Bob Furman

Dear Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee Members,
We were there.
Where were you?
You should be ashamed!

Close to twenty Gowanus and Carroll Gardens community members showed up to testify at the Zoning and Franchises Sub-Committee's public hearing on the Toll Brothers' Gowanus project. Only Chair Tony Avella was present. The other committee members were missing or had sent their assistants. Since there was no quorum, a vote on the matter was delayed. Which is just as well, I say.

Also present was our own Councilman Bill DeBlasio who was on hand to re-iterate his position in favor of the development. Explaining that he had at first been dubious about the project, he changed his mind because "the project is one I felt comfortable with because its commitment to affordable housing was real."
He stated that he will "suggest that my colleagues support this project."
Dismissing the community's calls for a height limit of 8 stories as opposed to the 12 stories proposed by Toll, De Blasio felt that " there is going to be a certain amount of height to make it feasible. That is just the reality we are living with."

However, during the public comment session, Carroll Gardeners voiced their frustration with the process, with the lack of community involvement and with
the sense that the politicians seem to listen more to developers than to their constituents.

Councilman DeBlasio took offense at the suggestion. Raising his voice, DeBlasio
rebuked the allegation that politicians are serving developers. "You are being heard," he said, "but we disagree." Affordable housing was important to him, he said. So was diversity. "I cannot accept a neighborhood that is only one kind of people."

Chairman Avella had a different opinion and sided with community members. He said: " I do think real estate interests control the agenda."

Bill DeBlasio seemed to have missed the point. No one was testifying against affordable housing. On the contrary, the community wanted guarantees that Toll Brothers would not end up building their luxury condo complex without the affordable component.

Craig Hammerman, Community Board 6 manager, conveyed the concern of CB6
that the project lacked any guarantee for affordable housing in return for giving the applicant permission to build higher and with more bulk than would otherwise be acceptable to this community. The board had understood that there would be a deed restriction on the property for the affordable housing requirement.
However, no such resrtiction exists and no guarantees are given.

Architect John Hatheway gave a presentation of an alternative to the Toll project.
In his opinion, "it is shortsighted to approve this project just because it contains public housing." According to him, the development "can be designed in such a way that the affordable housing can be achieved at a lower height without loss to Toll's project."

Councilman DeBlasio turned directly to Toll Brothers' VP David Von Speckelsen, to clarify the commitment and relieve the concerns over the affordable housing.
Mr von Spreckelsen confused matters further when he said: " If you can assure us the money is there, we will build the affordable housing.
Not quite what he wanted to hear, deBlasio wanted to know from Von Spreckelsen if he knew of "any specific fear that these subsidies may not be made available."
To this Von Spreckelson said no.

Josh Skaller, Council district 39 candidate expressed what many Gowanus and Carroll Gardens residents feel: " If you want to increase the density by the Gowanus
Canal, clean it up first." He questioned the safety of residences along its banks considering the toxic nature of the site. Turning towards Bill DeBlasio, he said:
" You must have found a way to feel OK with this. I would like to know how."
(See Bill De Blasio's response on You Tube Below)


No vote was taken after the lengthy meeting due to the lack of quorum. The matter has been tabled until Monday. It seems that Chairperson Avella's fellow Committee members did not deem it necessity to show the least consideration to the residents most affected by the project.
Which just reinforces their claim that their concerns are not being considered.

Tony Avella seemed to agree. (See the video below)






Bill De Blasio's response to Josh Skaller




And Just for the record: Toll Brothers on environmental clean-up


Related reading:

Gowanus Area Resident Speaks Out Against Toll Brothers' Project

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Read More

Toll Brothers Spent $365,000 On Lobbying For Gowanus Rezoning

The Toll Suits

Toll VP David Von Spreckelsen

Von Spreckelsen with Land Use Chair Bob Levine

Computerized elevations of Toll Brother's behemoth Project

Oh, dear reader, the CB6 Landmark/Land Use Committee meeting was long and drawn out.
But I was determined to stay till the bitter end in order to report back to you.
The committee voted last night on the Toll Brothers' behemoth condo project along the shores of the very polluted Gowanus Canal.
Let me just say that no amount of testimony from concerned residents at last month's meeting, no concerns about pathogens in the waters of the canal, nor warnings that the land is in a flood zone were able to sway a majority of our board members from voting yes for Toll's spot rezoning.

Most may have felt like member Jeff Strabone, who stated that he had misgivings about voting for the project because of the risk factors involved, but that in the end, he wanted to see the canal cleaned. That, he felt, would happen quicker if condo buyers would move to its shores.
"These people will be guinea pigs next to the toxic canal, but it will get cleaned up quicker if a couple of fat cats live there."
Well, that's one way of looking at it, but what if those guinea pigs start growing tumors...
The only no vote came from Roy Sloane. (May I just say thanks, Roy! You are my new hero!)
So there it is, dear reader. The vote is a sad outcome for the community. However, it is hardly surprising. Toll Brothers has deep pockets and has spent upwards of $365,000 to lobby for the project.

But pardon me for asking, why was Bill De Blasio, our Councilman, lobbying the Land Use Committee members to convince them to vote for the project? At least four board members received calls from DeBlasio's office in the last two weeks.
I wonder how many more members received a call as well?
The councilman has always been gung-ho on the project, but having his office lobby the board members is not cool in my book.
I think there is a lot of lobbying going on and not enough time spent actually listening to constituents.

Related Reading:

Toll Brothers Spent $365,000 On Lobbying For Gowanus Rezoning

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Read More