EPA Releases First Of Hopefully Many Gowanus Canal Updates

True to their word, the EPA is keeping the public informed about the Gowanus Canal work that they are currently undertaking. The first update has just been sent around to the community by Natalie Loney, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator. According to the release,the agency will be performing supplemental field work in early December.
This is a lot more transparent than anything the city has ever issued on the subject. Mayor Bloomberg has continued to shamelessly and relentlessly lobby Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA, against the listing of the Gowanus Canal. The city is still claiming that they have the will and the means to clean the Gowanus as thoroughly as the federal agency.
If that were the case, the city could and should have cleaned the canal twenty years ago.



Read the EPA's statement below:



******AND DON'T FORGET******


The EPA is hosting an informational community meeting on Thursday night.
Please make every effort to attend.




Thursday, December 3, 2009
from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
in the auditorium of
P.S. 32
located at 317 Hoyt Street


BECAUSE THE HEALTH OF OUR ENVIRONMENT
AND OF THIS COMMUNITY MATTERS!

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Great Week-End Holiday Sale At ArtsCetera On Smith Street

If you have not started with your holiday shopping, why not start at ArtsCetera's Holiday Sales Event? Its right here in the neighborhood, at 212 Smith Street, so you don't have to schlep into the city. Nanette DeCillis, the director of ArtsCetera, a great arts and music program for children writes:

This Saturday and Sunday, ArtsCetera again hosts the annual Ohm Sample Sale. Delicious clothing for women, and a evy of other hand-made accessories, jewelry, etc. We hope you'll come by for stress-free shopping for some of the special people on your list - including you!

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Comment Of The Day: Tom Gray Should Save His Soul

Anonymous has left the following comment on the post "Breaking News! On His Way Out, Councilman Bill De Blasio Sticks It To Carroll Gardens ":

Good job New Yorkers for electing not only one of the least qualified candidates but a Developers Advocate for Public Advocate. We tried to warn you.
This is quite a FU to Carroll Gardens. This law sets a dangerous precedent for the neighborhood and opens the door for future changes in the law. I am surprised that there is no opportunity for public comment. 360 Smith and Hannah Senesh School should go through the BSA. I knew Bill's support of the downzoning was political pandering.
Now I hear that Tom Gray will be Bill's land use "expert". Does Betsy Gotbaum have a land use expert? Tom Gray is still young and should save his soul and go back to Ohio.
I feel for my neighbors who supported Bill's campaign. They must be kicking themselves.

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BILL DE BLASIO'S STINGING PLANNED EXIT FROM CARROLL GARDENS

SHAME ON COUNCILMAN BILL DE BLASIO

PMFA has just learned that out-going Councilman Bill De Blasio will amend and erode the old law protecting Carroll Gardens' unique front yards on December 9th, requesting a change in front of the City Council to allow an exception for Hannah Senesh, the private school at the corner of Smith Street and First Place, to build on city owned property.
Just last year, the City Council passed the Wide Street Text Amendment, establishing once and for all that building and parking on the front gardens in this historical neighborhood is forbidden. Many local residents have given countless hours of their time and have fought so hard for this amendment.
Hannah Senesh Day School claims that two years after moving into its new facility at 342 Smith Street, it is already running out of space and wants to expand their building. They have asked to be allowed to build onto their (paved over) front garden along First Place.

Though I am sympathetic to the school's space issue, I believe that allowing an exception to the rule on that corner of Carroll Gardens will open the possibility to more. Imagine if more owners of corner properties should claim the right to build on their corner garden?

How typical of Bill deBlasio! Just as his term as city councilman is about to come to its end, he zings the neighborhood one last time. It wasn't bad enough that he was a mostly absent representative.

Below is a statement on this matter by members of the Carroll Gardens Coalition For Respectful Development (CORD)

BILL DE BLASIO'S STINGING PLANNED EXIT FROM CARROLL GARDENS

A 150 year old plus law, protecting the "gardens" in Carroll Gardens, is about to be thrown away by Bill De Blasio. Bill DeBlasio

The man who was quoted on the Front Page of one of our local newspapers as recently as Nov 20 saying the character of CG was so "very important to him" appears to be back peddling in a major way.

"Today we are seeing the voice of the community in action. Stopping the 333 CArroll Street development from becoming another out-of-scale development is an important step in protecting the historical character of Carroll Gardens." (Front page words of Bill De Blasio in "Hell to Pay on Carroll Street/ CG Courier/ 11/20/2009)

Despite these seemingly hearfelt words, Bill De Blasio has an exit strategy on his way to the city wide Public Advocate's office, that STINGS Carroll Gardens badly, especially in the wake of the hard won zoning regulations approved by the City Council over the last year and a half.

Carroll Gardens is unique. We were blessed with beautiful deep front gardens.These "courtyards" are specifically protected under old Brooklyn Law from having any structures built upon them.

That law is about to be changed. It is being tampered with by our exiting Councilman, Bill

de Blasio.

We learned today that DeBlasio, who has publicly supported and taken credit for maintaining neighborhood character, (link to campaign platform below) will be introducing a bill to amend the old brooklyn law on December 9th. He will be requesting a change that will allow a two story structure to be built on a courtyard on a Place block.

Once this dangerous precedent is set, there is no way of knowing what else could follow.

This is unacceptable and completely bewildering to the many many people who have worked so diligently over the years to insure that Carroll

Gardens did not lose its identity in the face of overwhelming overdevelopment.

"Fighting Overdevelopment: Bill fought to close a longstanding loop hole in the zoning text that left many streets in Carroll Gardens vulnerable to overdevelopment. The narrow residential streets were labeled “wide street” in the Zoning Resolution allowing for developers to build larger buildings. The change, advanced by Bill, appropriately characterized the narrow streets helping to preserve Carroll Gardens' character by disallowing out-of-context structures to rise on several residential blocks."

A page full of irony from Bill De Blasio's Public Advocate Website entitled: Neighborhood Preservation http://www.billdeblasio.com/node/275

How do you feel about this imminent change?

Should one Council member have the power to overturn something that affects so many?

We would like to know. Please email us at cgcord@gmail.com

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A Moment In Time: Painting Over Graffiti

Clad in a red jacket and a red cap,
he was covering up graffiti
with a paintbrush and some red paint
at the Bergen Street subway station.

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Delightfully Cluttered Winn Discount On Court Street To Remodel

The shelves inside Winn Discount at 299 Court Street, the usually cluttered variety store, look rather sparse since every item in the store has been reduced by 50% during a remodeling sale. Afraid that the business was closing for good, I asked the owner if the store was indeed just getting a make-over. He assured me that the sale was just a way of getting rid of extra stock and that he was making room for some popular items and new lines.
I hope so. I love Winn Discount and its eclectic collection of merchandise. I would hate if it turned into just another Rite Aid or CVS.
How about you, dear reader?


Just as an aside: About twenty years ago, Mastellone, the deli next door at 303 Court Street, included the space now occupied by Winn's. Back then, Mastellone's was more of a supermarket.

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What $12,000 A Month Gets You On Smith

Back in October 2008, Smith and Hanten's real estate office was marketing the commercial space at the corner of Smith and Pacific Street for $12,000 per month. Even for Smith Street, that seemed a bit expensive for the 1,400 sqft (plus basement) storefront.
According to the new sign on the construction fence, Iris Nail will open at that location. One can only hope that they were able to negotiate a better rent.
On the other hand, Iris Nails seems to have a few other locations in Manhattan, two of which are located on Madison Avenue, so they may be used to high rents.

The salon is scheduled to open in February.


Related Reading:

What $12,000 A Month Gets You On Smith

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