Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A Carroll Gardens Community Member Writes:

We at CORD are very grateful to have this powerful and clear letter from one of our neighbors to publish for others to read as well.

We encourage more people to do the same! Please send us your thoughts, concerns, memories, of Carroll Gardens etc., so that we could keep in touch with another. You can use our address at cgcord@gmail.com for your submissions.

Letters like the one below are seen and read by so many different people in our community including our electeds. We encourage you to use your voice to fight with, and to join us!

United, we can fight more effectively for the preservation and much- needed respectful development of our beloved Carroll Gardens! Register for our free newsletter on the right hand side of our blog at www.carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com. This way you will be sure to get all the latest news and communications from CORD.

Thank you.
CORD

A Community Member Writes:

As a trained architect and urban planner, but more importantly, as a concerned 20-year resident of Carroll Gardens, I write to register my utter incomprehension of the real estate development scenarios being played out in my Brooklyn neighborhood. The scale and density of the developments planned and conceived for the Carroll Gardens area, since it's creation a part of 'brownstone Brooklyn', are grotesquely out-of-place and severely at odds with the realities of the current economy. Just as the laissez-faire de-regulation and greed of the financial industry fanned the flames of the present economic disaster, ill-conceived planning motivated by the greed of outside developers will lead to the unraveling of Carroll Gardens' charming neighborhood fabric.

In the same year that our fire-house has been abandoned due to the inadequacies of City funding, the Toll Brothers development alone aims to add some 500 additional housing units to the area. At the same time that the MTA threatens service cuts and austerity measures, the current wait for morning and evening F-line service has entered the realm of the ridiculous, with the subway platform crowds swelling as already fully packed trains pull into the station. So, now, add a significant percentage of these developments' occupants into the mix, and an already bad commute just becomes that much worse. I implore you to join our rush-hour commute from Carroll Street to Manhattan one weekday morning between 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM, and enjoy the wait for a train that just might offer enough space to squeeze onto. Meanwhile, with the rush to development at both the Clarett Group and Oliver House sites, the community has so far been left with nothing more than huge holes in the ground --now more blight than benefit. On-street parking has become increasingly more difficult, as crossing both Court Street and Smith Street has become more dangerous.

These being just a few examples of the contradictory logic at play here, there appears to be a disconnect, whether political or financial in nature, I don't know. However, the irony of these facts is not lost on the neighbors of Carroll Gardens, as we remain actively engaged in the fight to protect the unique character, historic charm, look, feel and sense of community which is our neighborhood.

Whereas our Mayor seems to speak frequently of 'quality of life', I can only assume that the billionaire quality of life is far more immune from these mundane daily concerns than our working middle-class quality of life.


JL

Carroll Gardens Resident


Friday, January 16, 2009

More Info on Applying to Community Board 6 for the General Board OR the Committees

As there has been some confusion in our community regarding the various deadlines for which to apply to our Community Board 6 for the General Board and for the Committees, we are posting this information:

Community Board applications are accepted all year round, however every year the Borough President must appoint half of the board by the end of March.

Applications that were received by January 1st of this year will be considered for this next round of appointments.

The current board members have until Feb. 16 to submit their re-applications. The reason behind this date difference is due to the ability to process new applications as opposed to re-applications.

People may continue to submit new applications at any time, however the Borough President's office cannot promise that they will receive it and process it in enough time for review by the Borough President and the Council Members for this upcoming term.

Applications for Committees for the Community Board should have been received by Jan 14 (this week).

See the community board website for more details www.brooklyncb6.org

If you have any more questions about this, please contact Mr. John Heyer at the Borough President's Office.

CORD

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Local Architect Christopher McVoy asks for immediate help with letter writing campaign!

Note: These are excerpts from an email we received just today. We know it is extremely short notice but if you are able to help , please e-mail a copy of your statement or your thoughts to us at cgcord@gmail.com (see below).*

From: Christopher McVoy

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Your letters and emails to Marty Markowitz had a big impact on his recommendation to City Planning.

The public review process has now moved to City Planning Commission, which held a public hearing last week at which some of us spoke. This is a tough forum because City Planning’s own draft Gowanus Plan calls for 12 stories. But this is the most important place to make our case because we have a chance to influence their plan beyond the Toll Bros site. Commissioner Amanda Burden has said if the neighborhood calls for reduced height in significant numbers she will defer.

Please submit the great letters you emailed Marty to the City Planning Commission. Unfortunately they do not accept email. Please mail to:

Chair Amanda M. Burden

City Planning Commission

22 Reade St, Room 2W

New York, NY 10007

The letters are due within 10 days of hearing, which is this Saturday, January 17 (sorry for the short notice!).*

We’re having a positive impact on the project – let’s keep the pressure on!

Thank you,

Chris McVoy

*CORD would like to point out that since since this notice is so short, may we suggest that you email your statement to us at cgcord@gmail.com no later than tomorrow, Thursday 1/15 at 3 PM. We will co-ordinate with Chris McVoy who is planning on hand delivering statements on Friday morning.

P.S. You can view the presentation John Hatheway, and Glenn Kelly gave to Marty here:

http://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2009/01/for-home-page-click-pardon-me-for.html

Running for Charity from Second Place in CG


Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 10:13 AM
Subject: Running for Charity

Hello Folks,

Happy New Year to all of you. Apologies for the group email. But I am running another marathon―Miami on January 25th (www.ingmiamimarathon.com)―and I am doing it for three incredibly worthy charities. One is Batonga, which provides education for girls in several countries throughout Africa, and is headed by the luminous Beninese singer Anjelique Kidjo. Another is the Green Belt Movement, headed by Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, which supports planting trees and women's empowerment. And the third is activist and writer Eve Ensler's campaign to help victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I know these are very tough economic times, but I hope you will consider donating $26 (a buck a mile) to these three causes. Any more (or less) of course would be gratefully received. Luckily, the wonderful store ABC Carpet and Home has made it easy, by setting up a web page where you can find out about all three charities and the importance of protecting women and the planet and give to all three at once. Credit cards accepted. Here is the link:


The "Donate" button is in the bottom right hand corner. I have covered the cost of processing the credit cards, setting up the web page, and paying for the accounting, so all the money you give will go to the causes. Whether you can or cannot donate, please send this email (or the link) far and wide.

Finally, I attach a link to an extraordinary speech (PDF) by Canadian Stephen Lewis about the war against women that bears directly on all three of these charities.


With best wishes, and thanks so much for supporting these important causes. Looking to do 3 hrs 30 mins this time!


Martin (Rowe)

--
Martin Rowe
Lantern Books
128 Second Place, Garden Suite
Brooklyn, NY 11231-4102
Tel.: 212-414-2275 x 14
Fax: 212-414-2412
Web: www.martin-rowe.com
Web: www.lanternbooks.com

Toll Brothers Testimony at the City Planning Hearing

The following testimony was presented last week at the City Planning Hearing for Toll Brothers (see our earlier post below)

More testimony to come in the days ahead....

CORD


Good Morning. My name is Rita Miller. I am a third generation, lifelong Carroll Gardens resident and a co-founder of CORD, the Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development.

Just months ago, many people, who are here today, including myself were present for the Toll Brothers scoping hearing. Then, there was talk of a huge population increase over the next decade or two— construction was booming, neighborhoods were being irrevocably changed—. Practically everyone you met was a developer or looking to become one.

This project, seeking a rezoning green light ahead of the much larger Gowanus rezoning, presented varied, legitimate concerns to its potential neighbors.

Allowing this project to move ahead of the overall rezoning seemed premature, and inherently, unfair.

The overall scale of the project prompted the creative alternate plan presented by architects John Hatheway and Chris McVoy.

This area, an environmentally, geographically complex, unique and sensitive location, led some to question the wisdom of a rezoning request to accomodate a plan which required the engineering and construction of a hill in a flood plain, just so that towers could be built on top of it.

Was this plan really the best way to utilize this wetland area?

Was looking at this as an isolated project truly the optimum method for City Planning to serve both the current and future residents of the Gowanus and the surrounding impacted communities?

During the months that followed that scoping hearing, we residents, were repeatedly told that this project was the only way the canal was finally going to be cleaned. The mere presence of the potential residents of this project was somehow going to accomplish something that had completely eluded our neighborhood for my and my father’s entire lifetime, and as a bonus, the comparatively small amount of re- routed rainwater falling upon the Toll property would significantly ease the burden on the cso’s .Wow!

Some of my Gowanus neighbors expressed an expectation of more frequent basement flooding instead.

Then, the world changed. Just yesterday, a Metro NY article addressed the fact that there may not actually be so many people coming to New York City after all. With history’s statistics as our teacher and a failing economy as our companion, population growth and housing needs will not reach previously expected predictions.

Today, construction is down, credit is tough to get, many projects are halted. Some though completed, are sitting there empty.

CORD asks you to look at this situation as an opportunity to incorporate the Toll project into the larger Gowanus picture…to reassess this rezoning proposal and the overall plan within that context.

When it is looked at as one component of the larger rezoning, does permitting the altering of the lay of the land to accommodate this one development really seem like the wisest, most responsible use of this particular piece of property?

Please use this time to look at what we have, what we really need, examine the feasibility of what is desired and consider what we can and cannot reasonably expect.

Thank you.

Rita Miller

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Local Architect Chris McVoy reminds CG: Toll Brothers hearing tomorrow Jan 7, 2009

Local Architect Chris McVoy sent this out today:

Dear Neighbors,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Your support in scaling back the Toll Bros development for Marty Markowitz' hearing was fantastic. The nest step in the ULURP process is City Planning

The City Planning hearing on Toll Bros is TOMORROW JANUARY 7 AT 10AM.

NOTICE
363-365 BOND STREET
On Wednesday, January 7, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in Spector Hall, at the Department of
City Planning, 22 Reade Street, in Lower Manhattan, a public hearing is being held
by the City Planning Commission in conjunction with the above ULURP hearing to
receive comments related to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
concerning a zoning text amendment and a related zoning map amendment to
change an existing M2-1 zoning district to a Special Mixed Use District (M1-4/R7-2)
for two blocks (Blocks 452 and 458) located along the west waterfront of the
Gowanus Canal in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn Community District 6.
The proposed actions would facilitate a proposal by the applicant, Toll Brothers,
Inc., to redevelop their project site (Block 452, Lots 1 and 15 and Block 458, Lot 1)
with a mix of residential (market rate and affordable), commercial, community
facility, and open space uses. The applicant is also seeking a special permit to modify
height and setback, inner courtyard recess, and rear yards requirements within a
General Large-Scale Development.



All the Best,

Chris McVoy



On Nov 17, 2008, at 11:02 PM, Christopher McVoy wrote:

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Many of us in the neighborhood have been working to establish appropriately scaled development on the Gowanus Canal. This rare channel of water in our urban fabric, gradually being cleaned up, has incredible potential for a publicly-accessible urban respite park (last month I met a fisherman who regularly catches striped bass form Carroll bridge!)

City Planning proposes 12 story residential development along the canal south of Carroll Street bridge. Though this re- zoning is not approved, Toll Brothers is moving ahead with plans to build a large development on the canal between 2nd and Carroll Streets at the 12 story height.

While many of us support re-zoning to allow residential development along the canal, most of us in the neighborhood believe the development should be limited in height so that:


-
It has less impact on the adjacent historic 2-4 story brownstone fabric of Carroll Gardens
-
It provides necessary sunlight and open sky required for the relatively narrow publicly accessible canal-front park.

To build their project, Toll Bros needs special approval through ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Process), which includes approval by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Last week, John Hatheway (architect, member of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association and advocate for responsible development for those who don't know him) and I gave the attached presentation to Marty, advocating an 8 story height limit, which allows the same built area and affordable housing as Toll Bros. but at an appropriate height for Carroll gardens and the Gowanus park. He and his staff were receptive. But for Marty to advocate for our proposal, he needs to know that we have support of many in Brooklyn.

If you agree with us PLEASE SEND MARTY AN EMAIL at the below address saying you are “a resident of Carroll Gardens and support John Hatheway and Chris McVoy’s proposal for limiting development on the Gowanus to 8 stories” for reasons above and any others you wish to mention.

askmarty@Brooklynbp.nyc.gov

This is likely our last chance to scale back the development! - and Marty actually reads his emails!

On Wednesday we will give the same presentation at the Borough Pres’ public hearing. It would also be very helpful if any of you could come and voice your support for our proposal at the hearing:

DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

TIME: 5:30 pm

PLACE: Brooklyn Borough Hall

First Floor, 209 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY 11201

Thank you!

Chris McVoy

315 Carroll Street


CORD HISTORY:

With the "Protect Our Homes" petition, CORD was formed in May, 2007. This petition arose as an overwhelmingly negative response to the coming of the over-sized 360 Smith Street Development at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place (Aka Oliver House; aka 131 Second Place). This petition, which had well over three thousand signatures, led to a new zoning text amendment in summer of 2008.

To: Our Elected Officials, Community Leaders, The MTA:
(MAY, 2007)

We the undersigned Carroll Gardens homeowners and residents, are appalled by the "as of right" ruling which allows owners and developers to erect buildings in our neighborhood with no regard to the impact they will present to our quality of life and the value of our homes........

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?crlgrdns