'Save Gowanus' Planning Community Rally To Voice Concerns About Lightstone Group Project On Thursday Evening

rendering by Lightstone Group

Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn....
'Save Gowanus' is planning a rally on Thursday night at the Carroll Street bridge to protest the Lightstone Group's 12 story, 700 unit project at 363-365 Bond Street on the shores of the Gowanus Canal.

Save Gowanus is composed of Gowanus residents and home-owners living near the site on Bond Street between Carroll Street and 2nd Street, as well as members of civic groups Friends of Bond (FOB) and Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG)

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is scheduled to attend and will be speaking with concerned community members about the impact the Lightstone apartment complex will have on the community and on the Gowanus flood zone.

From a FROGG press release:
"This is not a rally to endorse Thompson's mayoral candidacy; instead, it is a chance "to bring broader attention to the issue of irresponsible development (which endangers scale, zoning, schools, transit and health and safety) in the context of the mayoral race.
It is extremely urgent that as many of you attend as possible. Please invite your neighbors as well. We need to show all our elected representatives how important this issue is to our community. They've already heard from the developers and their lobbyists; now it's our turn to be heard. This is the protest that will hopefully help bring attention to our issue in the media and the mayoral race."

***UPDATE  From Save Gowanus

Tonite's rally, which will be attended both by the media and by Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, is still scheduled to happen at the Carroll Street Bridge.

However, in chance of rain, we'll be moving indoors to the community room of Mary Star of the Sea, 41 1st Street.

Keep your eyes peeled to the website, savegowanus.org, to find out if the rally has been moved to that indoor location.

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Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) To City Planning: After Sandy, How Can Department Consider 700-Unit Apartment Complex In Gowanus?

Proposed Lightstone Development next to the Gowanus Canal (credit: Lightstone Group)

Lightstone Development site, Canal at Carroll Street during Sandy  (photo credit: Margaret Maugenest)

Second and Bond Streets during storm (photo credit: Triada Samaras)

Sandy flooding at First and Bond Streets near Canal (photo credit: Carl Teitelbaum)

On November 13th***, NYC's Department Of City Planning will be reviewing The Lightstone Group's application for "minor modifications" to the previously approved land use actions at 363-365 Bond Street on two blocks right next to the Gowanus Canal. One of those minor modifications is to increase the number of units from 447 to 700, which doesn't seem so very minor at all.

In 2009, after a Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) that was set in motion by Toll Brothers, a national development company, the property was spot re-zoned by City Planning from manufacturing to special mixed-use, which allows housing.
After the Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund Site by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2010, Toll Brothers decided to abandon plans for their proposed condo development.

Lightstone revived the project and is planning a 700-unit rental complex. In order to proceed, they just need City Planning's approval.  (It is important to note that Lightstone could start construction on the previously approved 447 unit building immediately.)

Many Gowanus residents have warned that the building site is in a flood zone A and that the infrastructure, especially the sewer system in the Gowanus area is dreadfully antiquated.  

After Hurricane Sandy and the ensuing flooding, these concerns are well founded.

The group Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) just released the  statement below aimed at NYC Planning and Chairperson Amanda Burden to address the 'new reality' about the vulnerability of our shoreline and the risks of bringing more residents to a flood plain.

BROOKLYN RESIDENTS, SMALL BUSINESSES BLAST NY CITY PLANNING’S DECISION TO CONSIDER A NEW 700-UNIT APARTMENT COMPLEX IN CONTAMINATED ZONE A

Development would be the first approved since Superstorm Sandy despite being in a flood-prone, mandatory evacuation zone along a hazardous Superfund site; Brooklyners upset at the prospective rise in insurance costs from the eventual bail out of this building in the next storm; City Planning to discuss approval November 13.***

Brooklyn residents and small businesses are outraged that the New York City Planning Commission will consider a proposal to build a gigantic 8 to 12 story apartment complex to house over 1400 residents on the banks of the Gowanus Canal, which is a hazardous federal Superfund site. Their proposed site was under more than 10 feet of toxic, sewage- contaminated water during Hurricane Sandy.
After the mandatory evacuation order for Zone A and the continuing devastation from the hurricane, many Gowanus residents have still not been allowed to return to their damaged buildings. Other high rises in the neighborhood, such as the Gowanus Houses, are still without power and heat a week after the storm. The EPA is currently conducting street-level site sampling to determie whether the cancer-causing contaminants from the canal’s toxic sediments linger and are harmful to citizens. It’s in this dystopian environment that the Lightstone Group is applying
to build an apartment complex. “It is lunacy for the city to consider this project in light of the damage from the hurricane,” says Linda Mariano, co-chair of the community advisory group Friends and Residents of the Greater Gowanus (FROGG). “We are calling for a full moratorium on development and all up-scale zoning changes in any waterfront district.”
A 2010 State Sea-Level Task Force Report recommends " restriction of new development and redevelopment in high- risk areas”. That’s because the costs of dealing with a storm’s aftermath is too costly to New York taxpayers. The dollars to bail out residents during future storm surges raises everyone’s taxes as well as insurance rates.
The NY City Planning Commission will discuss this project at a November 13 meeting at which the public is not allowed to speak. Unlike other proposals for new developments, the Lightstone project is slipping backdoor through a loophole in the city planning process. The proposal will not go through a city ULURP hearing or have to file and environmental impact statement because of
an earlier area spot zoning in 2009. However, given the federal government’s designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site in 2010 and the incredible damage and displacement
from Hurricane Sandy, it is irresponsible for the City Planning Commission to greenlight such a development at this time.
Lightstone has said that despite the storm, it will proceed with building, claiming that they plan to raise the grade of their development to offer protection to the new residents. However, the surge brought in by Sandy exceeded their proposed elevation changes. And even if their buildings are above the flood plain,  all their of nearly 1400 residents will still need to be evacuated in the next storm– a task made more complicated by the city’s evacuation route also being underwater for high tides during the storm. Furthermore, in Sandy’s wake, new developments can’t only seek to impede a flood by trapping storm water, but also need to be evaluated as to whether they can assist in the speedy drainage of future storm surges, something Lightstone’s proposal does not include.
“Flood water would not only find another path, it would go further up each side of the Canal to find open or other accessible space,” says Diane Buxbaum, a neighborhood resident and environmentalist “It makes no sense to continue building on our shore areas. Creating open areas and trying to restore some link to wetlands is the better choice.”
More than 500 Brooklyn residents and small businesses have signed a petition decrying the development, and it is also opposed by a large number of community groups incluing FROGG (Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus), CORD (Coalition for Responsible Development) and the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, among others.
These allies call upon Governor Cuomo, Mayor Bloomberg, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and Councilman Brad Lander and other elected officials, acting under the power of the current “State of Emergency,” to take the first steps in addressing the effects of hurricane and storm surge catastrophes by calling for a moratorium on development and all up-scale zoning changes in any waterfront district that was affected by the storm surge of hurricane Sandy. They call for Amanda Burden and the NY City Planning to put an immediate moratorium on the review or approval of any pending projects planned for Zone A, including that of the Lightstone Group, until new guidelines for such development have been created. To do otherwise would not only be foolish, but irresponsible and costly to the community as well. As Governor Andrew Cuomo recently stated, “We have a 100-year flood every two years now.” The NY City Department of Planning must acknowledge this fact, and act accordingly.
We must rebuild following Sandy – but not at the water’s edge. Let’s not create new and costly regional flood control problems.

*** The hearing on this development was delayed. The date apeared on NYC Department of City Planning's online calendar prior to Hurricane Sandy, but was removed after the storm. No word yet on when it will be rescheduled.

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Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Takes Position That Total Elimination Of CSOs In Gowanus Canal Is Only Acceptable Solution To Problem. Passes Resolution.

At last night's US Environmental Protection Agency's Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group's (GAG) general meeting,  members voted to adopt a resolution that asks for a total elimination of New York City's Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) into the waterway.
The resolution was drafted by the CAG's Water Quality/Technical Committee after an informational meeting with NYC Department Of Environmental Protection on April 3rd, 2012.  At that meeting, DEP, which has been names a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) by the EPA for its role in contributing hazardous toxins to the canal and for allowing CSOs to continue to discharge into the Gowanus,  had refuted EPA's findings.

Despite DEP's best effort, the agency failed to convince the Committee members that more testing was necessary and that it had not yet been proven that the CSOs are contributing chemicals to the canal at levels that constitute unacceptable human risks under Superfund.

So last night, the Water Quality/Technical Committee put forth the following resolution:

The Gowanus Superfund Community Advisory Group fully supports the United States Environmental Protection Agency in its finding that New York City's Combines Sewer Overflows are a significant contributor of harmful sediment and Superfund regulated PAHs and metals to the canal. The CAG takes the position that the total elimination of the CSOs in the Gowanus Canal is the only acceptable solution to the problem.     The CAG asks that the EPA, under their Superfund authority, take the necessary measures that will insure protection of the proposed remedy from ongoing CSO sediment solids deposits and the release of PAHs and other toxics.

However, before a discussion or a vote on the resolution could take place, Jeff Edelstein, the CAG's facilitator, informed its members that DEP, represented by Jim Mueller, would like to present its position on the CSO resolution and wanted the opportunity to give members of the CAG a presentation.

Many CAG members strongly opposed.  Though some wanted to hear what the DEP had to say, the  prevailing sentiment, especially amongst members of the Water Quality/Technical Committee, was that this was neither the time, nor the place for DEP to argue its, as one member put it, its "PRPness"

CAG member 

Marlene Donnelly,  representing F.R.O.G.G. argued:

"The DEP did just have a lengthy meeting with the community. There was no representative from the EPA there to present an alternate perspective at that meeting. If we give DEP five minutes for a presentation tonight, we also need  to give EPA five minutes to present their perspective. Since they are not here to present. I think that it is inappropriate at this time to allow DEP time to present just their perspective without a counter- perspective."

Josh Verlun,  Riverkeeper's representative, agreed:

"I believe that it is inappropriate for DEP to impose their perspective on the resolution at this time unless we have representatives from both EPA and from all the other PRPs give their perspective as well. At last count, that number was 30 or so. It is not appropriate for one PRP to voice their opinion, when there are other agencies and stakeholders that are nor represented here tonight. "

Rita Miller, C.O.R.D. representative added:

"The DEP came before the Water Quality/Technical committee, and out of that discussion, I think it is fair to say that this resolution was born.  I think that our committee should be able to present the resolution to our fellow CAG members. We have the interest of our community at heart. There is no further presentation by the DEP necessary."
And Steven Miller, member-at-large concluded:
"I want to remind everyone here tonight that the City of New York is a PRP and that their interaction with us should be held within this context."

At the end, the CAG voted to not allow DEP to give its presentation and to move forward with the vote on the resolution.
The resolution passed easily.

It was so transparent that the DEP wanted to influence members of the CAG last night and was trying to prevent this resolution from passing.  Pretty low, I say.

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At Yesterday's BSA Hearing On Gowanus Whole Foods Variance

Meenakshi Srinivasan, Chair Of NYC Board Of Standards And Appeals

More than twenty people showed up to testify yesterday afternoon at the hearing in front of the NYC Board Of Standards And Appeals regarding Whole Foods Market's request for a use variance (§72-21) to permit a food store (UG6), contrary to use regulations in an M2-1 zoning district, at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street on the Gowanus Canal.
Currently, New York City's Zoning Resolution only allows Whole Foods to build a 10,000s.f. store on the site, which is located in an M2-1 zoning district. The proposed Gowanus food store would be 58,000 s.f., have a 20,000 sf rooftop greenhouse, parking for 248 vehicles, and a public walkway along the Gowanus Canal.
Whole Foods is claiming that full compliance with zoning regulations is not possible in order to realize a reasonable economic return on their property.
At the hearing, lawyers for the food retailer gave a brief presentation on the project, then argued the following reasons for hardships associated with developing the site:
*Unsuitable soil conditions on the property require extensive pile foundations. Special drilled piles are also near needed near the the landmarked Coignet building on the site.
*the property is in a Flood Zone A and has a high water table. Extensive waterproofing and additional measures to resist hydrostatic pressure will be required.
* The property is adjacent to two bridges
*Has varying street elevations and a grade change of 12 feet,
*And is subject to the Brownfields Cleanup Program which entails environmental remediation costs.

During the public testimony session of the hearing, representatives of Community Board 6, the Brooklyn Chamber Of Commerce and the Gowanus Canal Coomunity Development Corporation all read statements in support of the project. (Borough President Marty Markowitz has also endorsed it.)
A representative from the Al-Madinah School, which is located on 3rd Avenue, across the site, spoke in favor.
Hans Hesselein of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy testified that the Conservancy welcomes many aspects of the plan, but requests that any approval by the BSA "be conditioned upon Whole Foods Market's commitment to provide the community with adequate natural and open space resources."
In particular, the Conservancy suggests that WF increase the public esplanade along the Gowanus Canal on the West side of the site from the proposed 20' width to a minimum of 40' on all sides bordering the canal "consistent with the goals of the NYC Department of City Planning DRAFT Zoning Proposal for the Gowanus Canal as well as the Sponge Park master plan."
However, many organizations and individuals spoke against the project.
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group submitted a letter asking the BSA to postpone its decision on the Whole Food Market's variance application until the US Environmental Protection Agency releases its Record of Decision for the Gowanus Canal Clean-up plan. (See letter below.)
Marlene Donnelly, representing Friends And Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG), pointed out that the BSA has, in recent history, rejected non-conforming uses along the Gowanus Canal, most notably in the case of 130 Third Street, in which the Board found that the applicant "failed to provide substantial evidence that the subject lot possessed unique physical conditions that create practical difficulties and unnecessary hardships in developing the site in strict conformity with current zoning."
The Gowanus Institute, an independent think tank, urged the BSA to reject the variance, arguing that "the WFM application is flawed, and the proposed development will have a lasting negative impact on the manufacturing community of Gowanus and the surrounding neighborhoods." (see their testimony below)
Nathan Elbogen director of XØ Projects and The Old American Can Factory (OACF) pointed out that the large site could be developed 'as-of-right' with up to 370,000 SF for small to medium-scale manufacturing and referred to the success of the Old American Can Factory, a multi-story light-industrial complex fully occupied by industrial and commercial tenants.

Quite an impressive number of Gowanus artists, musicians, film makers, lighting designers, jewelers and non-profits, many OACF tenants, testified against the WFM project as well. They argued that there are few industrial manufacturing zones left in the city and those that remain need to be protected. They pointed out that the Gowanus area is not the waste-land Whole Foods depicts it as. Rather it is a vibrant manufacturing and cultural zone that permits growth that can not be sustained anywhere else. As an industrial zone, they pointed out, the Gowanus area is vital for the economic recovery of the city.

The next hearing on this matter has been scheduled for January 24th, 2012

Letter Submitted By Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

December 9, 2011
Hon. Meenakshi Srinivasan, Chair
New York City Board of Standards and Appeals
40 Rector Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10006

Dear Chair Srinivasan
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG), at its December 5, 2011 general meeting, passed the following resolution directed to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals:

The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group requests that the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals postpone its decision on Whole Foods Market’s Variance Application until the US Environmental Protection Agency releases its Record of Decision for the Gowanus Canal cleanup plan.

In addition, for your information, the CAG passed the following resolution directed to Whole Foods Markets:

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group requests that Whole Foods Market present to the CAG their general sitework and bulkhead plan for review and discussion.

The following describes the background discussion that took place at the Gowanus Canal CAG meeting on December 5, 2011 prior to the vote on the two resolutions above:
Whole Foods Market (WFM) is scheduled for a New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) public hearing on 12/13/11 to review its use variance application to construct a 78,000 GSF food market at the southwest corner of Third Street and Third Avenue, which is not permitted in M2-1 zone.  WFM's proposed development is the largest new building development on the canal in generations, and is set on the single largest zoning lot along the Gowanus Canal, with 892 linear feet of canal frontage, the most frontage of any property along the canal.
Members of the Gowanus Canal CAG want assurance that the WFM development is done in a manner that is compatible with the USEPA Superfund cleanup process, which is still in the planning phase.  The CAG’s understanding is that USEPA will be releasing its Feasibility Study by the end of 2011, announcing its selection of the clean-up remedy by June of 2012, and after a public comment period will be finalizing the selection of the clean-up remedy by the end of 2012 in a Record of Decision.  Members of the Gowanus Canal CAG are concerned that the WFM development may adversely impact the EPA Superfund cleanup process, given the issues outlined below:
ISSUES & CONCERNS WITH WFM PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
1.  WFM's application does not thoroughly discuss its relationship to the EPA Superfund designation and cleanup plan, and makes a single reference to it saying "...our project proposes splash pads within the canal to handle stormwater runoff in compliance with and pursuant to NYSDEC's approval which will require notification of the EPA when installation is to happen. In addition, the EPA has two monitoring wells that may need to be preserved."  
2.  The CAG has requested technical assistance from the EPA regarding maintenance, repair and/or replacement of canal bulkheads which are historical, in poor condition and may further deteriorate with dredging;
3.  WFM's development site includes three parcels with contaminated soil that are have not yet been remediated as well as four parcels with severely contaminated soil and underground storage tanks that have been remediated but that have not yet received final approval from NYSDEC;
4.  WFM's development plan includes major sitework including:  changes to grade and storm drainage as well as driving piles and other foundation work that could disturb contaminants below the level of remediated portions of the site and below the base of the bulkheads
5.  WFM's development site was suggested as an ideal staging and production area for EPA Superfund cleanup-related activities;
6.  EPA's cleanup process will include soil dredging that will omit noxious odors, be unsightly, and noisy, and incompatible with a food store;
7.  A proposal to process the dredged sludge from the Gowanus Canal includes a suggestion by the US Army Corp of Engineers to vitrify and bury the sludge under the Fourth Avenue Basin which abuts the WFM site;
8.  A proposal was made as part of the stormwater and CSO control plan for the area, to submerge a stormwater holding tank under the Fourth Basin which abuts the WFM site.
9.  Failure to ensure compatibility between the WFM development and the USEPA cleanup process could prolong the impact of the clean-up on existing businesses and neighbors.
Sincerely,
Jeff Edelstein, P.E.

Facilitator

On Behalf of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Committee

Testimony Give By The Gowanus Institute

Whole Foods Market (WFM) is proposing a development of 78,000 SF facility, including a 248 vehicle surface parking lot and a 58,000 SF retail food market in an M2 zoning district, nearly six times the allowable area of a maximum of 10,000 SF

WFM is requesting to modify a land use requirement that currently protects a scarce and diminishing resource:  a property zoned for medium manufacturing, on an active industrial canal. If built, the proposed development would substantially alter the essential manufacturing character of the Gowanus neighborhood, and contradict  NYC's long-range goals to diversify its economy and increase higher paying jobs.

Over the past 10 years, the Gowanus neighborhood has become a haven for light and medium manufacturing as other manufacturing districts throughout NYC have been rezoned. The site is at the heart of a thriving industrial community that includes maritime uses, and is within the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone, which the Mayor's policy has committed to preserving for manufacturing or related uses.

The large manufacturing site could be developed genuinely "as-of-right" with up to 370,000 SF for small to medium-scale manufacturing and could yield up to three times as many jobs with considerably higher pay than the proposed retail use. In fact, directly across the subject site on Third Avenue, is a multi-story light-industrial complex of 130,000 GSF that is fully occupied with approximately 80 industrial and commercial tenants employing more than 300 people.

In recent years, numerous studies, including NYC Dept of City Planning's Gowanus Canal Corridor Study (2008) and the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation's Comprehensive Community Plan (2006), have encouraged growing the manufacturing activity in the Gowanus area, particularly on the south side of the canal, which includes the WFM site. In October 2011, NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation awarded a $200,000+ Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) grant to Friends of Community Board 6, specifically to study the growing industrial activity along the Gowanus Canal and to help them map a sustainable, economically viable industrial future for the area dedicated to 'green' manufacturing. The WFM site is at the nexus of this BOA study area.

Further, in light of NYC Dept of City Planning's Vision 2020 Working Waterfront Policy,  this site, with its extensive canal frontage, would be ideal for uses that utilize barging as its primary mode of transport, reducing substantially the truck traffic throughout the city, as several businesses are currently doing directly adjacent to the site.

To receive a variance, the applicant must prove five findings showing why they are in need of relief from the existing zoning regulations.  First, WFM claims that the site is “burdened by unique conditions”when the site is typical of most sites along the Canal, and had active industrial uses on each of the parcels prior to WFM assembling its site. WFM's second claim of “economic hardship” is based an untenable "as-of-right" scheme that submerged all of the retail area well below grade where it is considered a ‘cellar’ and not counted as floor area. As for “not altering the essential character of the neighborhood,” an upscale food store would certainly be incompatible with the surrounding uses that include two large concrete producers, a large metal and car recycling facility and a paper/cardboard recycler, all of which are fundamentally different in use, noise, odor, and access requirements.  Fourth, given that the site has accommodated a variety of conforming uses in the past, it is only reasonable that this is in fact a “self-created hardship.”  The fifth point, the “minimum variance required”, is therefore irrelevant.

Increase in traffic is another major concern. WFM presents a traffic study which projects only into the year 2012, barely the year it would open, without taking into account any new major developments currently planned in the area, such as the Barclays Stadium, Atlantic Yards  or the numerous high-rise residential buildings planned on Fourth Ave. As the store is clearly intended to serve the broader region of the borough of Brooklyn, not a local one, its (modest) projections of thousands of car trips per day to the site (just one way!) would certainly add a huge amount of traffic on Third Avenue (a narrow, two-lane truck route) and on Third Street (one of only two two-way bridges crossing the Gowanus Canal). Further, the WFM site is located on the evacuation route for Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, hardly a prudent place for additional daily traffic.

Environmental concerns with the WFM site include: its location on former wetlands; it is within FEMA's Flood Zone A; and, it abuts the Gowanus Canal, recently designated an EPA Superfund Site.  There is real concern among the EPA's Community Advisory Group (CAG) that the development  might disrupt the cleanup effort given potentially incompatible work plans. On 12/5/11, the CAG formally requested that BSA postpone its decision on the WFM variance application until the EPA releases its cleanup plan.

The residential neighborhoods nearby are well served by multiple, large organic and natural food stores. If WFM aims to serve the Park Slope neighborhood, it could locate just one block east on Fourth Avenue as part of an urban, mixed-use development, similar to WFM's Manhattan stores. Or, if a 'regional' Brooklyn store is WFM's objective, then an appropriate location could be near an exit ramp, as other large retailers have done. The subject site is a mile or more from any highway.

In conclusion, WFM's project would be the first development on the Gowanus Canal in generations, set on the single largest private zoning lot. If this variance were granted and the WFM plan developed, it would set back decades of hard work to get the canal area growing as a fresh and thriving manufacturing community focusing on maritime uses, green manufacturing and the creative industries.

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At Small Ceremony, Preservation League Of NYS Presents FROGG with Grant

Linda Mariano of FROGG reading a statement

from l. to r.: Erin Tobin of the Preservation League of NY, with FROGG members Marlene Donnelly, Linda Mariano, Bette Stoltz, Lisanne McTiernan and Lizzie Olesker

Founding FROGG Members Marlene Donnelly, Linda Mariano and Bette Stoltz

Lisanne McTiernan with Susan Golberg

Old map from c. 1839 of the Gowanus area showing the original creek, marsh and mill ponds.

John Vetter, EPA archeologist for the Gowanus Canal Superfund, Marlene Donnelly and Eymund Diegel

A deservedly proud Linda Mariano

from l. to r. Linda Mariano,NY State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Marlene Donnelly, Eymund Diegel, Bette Stoltz and Leslie-Arlette Boyce, author of newly published The Glory Of Brooklyn's Gowanus

Erin Tobin of the Preservation League of New York State  presented a  $7,500 grant to The Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) today at a lovely ceremony at the Old American Can Factory, 232 Third Street. The grant will be used to fund a survey of the industrial landscape surrounding the Gowanus Canal.

According to the Preservation League of NY: "This neighborhood, listed as a Six to Celebrate by the Historic Districts Council, has many landmarks and architecturally significant structures, including the Carroll Street Bridge, the oldest retractile bridge in the country. Buildings within the Greater Gowanus neighborhood include not only industrial structures, but also small laborer housing, and the area has retained much of its 19^th century industrial architecture and cultural heritage."

Linda Mariano, one of FROGG's founding members and tireless advocate for historic preservation of the Gowanus corridor stated:

"Acceptance of this grant comes with a great responsibility to complete our project "The Architectural Survey Of The Gowanus Canal Corridor". The purpose of the Survey is to authenticate the buildings, the vistas, the bridges and all else which may be discovered along the way that constitute a link to New York City's and the nation's industrial past.It is our hope that the Survey will justify the placement of the Gowanus Corridor on The National Register of Historic Places as an Urban Industrial District.The Gowanus Canal Corridor is the Gowanus Canal and the areas adjacent to the Canal, which contain many architecturally significant buildings that once formed the backbone of one of the nation’s most important industrial centers. Placement on the National Register will help preserve and protect those buildings which continue to growas a vibrant industrial sector, and to preserve and protect the remaining buildings to be conditioned for re-use and for new industry.There is a need for continuance of light industry in the GC Corridor. Most of the architecturally significant buildings are being used for noninvasive industry. FROGG and this community of caring people hope to maintain and sustain this need.  An additional outcome of the Survey will be to use the special district designation as a tool for preventing other kinds of zoning or even re-zoning .To work toward preservation rather than against it, to coordinate historic preservation policy with zoning. We could establish a citizen based planning process rather than so called "experts" who take the community out of community and transform our neighborhoods into an artificial landscape. Although some buildings are currently vacant, it does not mean they are useless. They can be adapted for future reuse.A special district gives us a sense of identity and a chance to preserve something of the past. It is an opportunity to share in community pride .We must preserve and protect the past for the future."

Personally, I would like to thank my friends at FROGG for their vision, for their tireless engagement and for their advocacy on behalf of the Gowanus Community.


And last, but not least, thank you to Joseph Mariano for sharing some bottles of his very own Vinum Nostrum, made right here in the Gowanus.  It was delicious.

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Congratulations To FROGG On Grant Award From Preservation League

Congratulations to Friends and Residents Of Greater Gowanus. The non-for-profit group will be presented with a grant award from The Preservation League of New York State on Wednesday, October 26th at 12 noon until 2 p.m. at The Old American Can Factory.

The grant award will be used to conduct a survey of The Gowanus Canal Corridor for the Nomination to The National Register of Historic Places as an Urban Industrial District.

The Old American Can Factory is located at 232 3rd Street at the corner of 3rd Avenue.

Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome.

Well done, Friends!

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A Visit To Artist Margaret Maugenest's Gowanus Loft

Outside it was sweltering on that particular afternoon, but there was a gentle breeze in Margaret Maugenest's vast loft in Gowanus. As soon as I arrived, she offers me a cool glass of ginger ice tea and pushes a plate of Madeleines towards me. "Try them and tell me how you like them." (They were amazing and remind me of my childhood.)

I have known Margaret for a few years now, mostly as a neighborhood activist and member of Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus, otherwise known as 'the Froggs.' The moment I met her, I admired her for her spunk and outspokenness. I knew that she was an artist, but had never seen her work. "I would like to write about you" I told her one day, and was happy when she spontaneously agreed to be interviewed.

That afternoon, Margaret and I spoke about many things: her interesting background, the winding road that lead her to Brooklyn, the Gowanus Canal and its community of artists, her travels as well as her art. But let me start from the beginning.

Margaret was born in Indonesia, of a family with Dutch and French ancestry. The family left Indonesia in 1957 and moved to Holland, where they settled in Amsterdam, right next to the Rijks Museum. In 1961, the Maugenest family immigrated to the United States. Margaret remembers her excitement, when the ship they were traveling on passed the Statue Of Liberty in New York Harbor. They continued on to Cincinnati, Ohio, by train, and settled there.

After attending the University of Iowa, Margaret was drawn back to Europe. She convinced her then-husband to leave the Midwest to travel extensively through Spain and France.

In Paris, Margaret received an offer to work at the International Herald Tribune's photograph archive. The couple seemed destined to make the city their permanent home. But the day before she started the job, Margaret knew that she truly wanted to be in New York City.

So, she walked away from the job offer and settled in a loft in Soho instead.

Soho then was still a thriving artist community. Creativity was evident everywhere in the neighborhood. Painters and sculptors were supportive of each other and freely exchanged ideas about art.

By the early 1980's, Soho began to change. The quiet streets became busier as stores and restaurants opened in the area. Margaret saw the handwriting on the wall and knew it was time to move on. She found a new loft in Gowanus, a then-remote area of Brooklyn. She has been living here ever since.

Margaret once met Willem De Kooning in his studio in Spring, Long Island. They spoke Dutch together and she found him to be gracious and gallant. She still owns the summer dress she wore the day she met him. (see photo above)

Her Gowanus loft is filled with beautiful objects collected from her many travels. Her art hangs everywhere around the loft. She used to paint on huge canvases, but then concentrated on watercolors. For the last twelve years, she has been painting on silk. She has suspended some of her delicate sheer panels from the ceiling, and as the air moves around the loft, they gently sway in the wind, sometimes overlapping and tangling to blend their pale colors together in a multitude of combinations.

"They are like painted air." Margaret tells me. She is right.

Before leaving, Margaret shows me her favorite place in the loft. It is near one of the windows. which looks down onto the Gowanus Canal. She has placed a chair right there, so that she can enjoy the view whenever she wants. And what a view it is!

We stand there for a while in silence. I am sure we are sharing the same thought. Just like Soho, this canal area will change in the next few decades. But whatever the area's future, i will hopefully continue to include space for artists like Margaret, because their presence enriches our community.

Thanks you very much for a wonderful afternoon, Margaret, and for inviting me into your magical home.

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