From: CG CORD Regarding the City Limits article of Jan 29.2021:
First let us remember: City Limits was granted access to the virtual hearing as a member of the press. The public was not!
The quote below is from the filing from a group called, GROW. The Gowanus Residents Owners and Workers filed some two dozen affidavits in support of moving ahead with the zoning plan.
"the Petioners' concern is not that they wont be heard, it is that they wont be listened to. Therefore they seek to prevent anyone else from being heard".
Translation:
Voice of Gowanus, the Petitioners in this case, disagrees with having the Public Hearing portions of the ULURP procedure done virtually. They wish the Public hearings to be held publicly, as the current NYC law demands, in a place of mass assembly, where all are welcome to listen, hear and speak their minds regarding the largest rezoning in New York City's history, rather than, virtually, over the internet.
This GROW group agrees with the City and feels that the rezone is so important that it cannot wait until public hearings are possible. In fact, GROW does not like the idea of waiting one bit. They must dislike it so much in fact, that they are willing to shame themselves into stating publicly that a group of people who are literally fighting City Hall in order to insure public hearings for this very important rezoning, actually do not want anyone else to be heard. (This was apparently the best they could come up with)
You cannot make this stuff up.
But wait....it apparently gets even better
The Judge, Katherine Levine, who by the way, did not permit the hearing (which in essence is about the unfairness/inequity of a virtual ULURP process-rather than in person public hearings) to be available to the public who wished to listen to the proceeding -- press only allowed. Can you spell I-R-O-N-Y-?
Judge Levine, Jan 29, 2021 from the hearing regarding the Gowanus Rezone ULURP application/process stated the following:
"...I am not ruling on the certification yet, but my predisposition is that I will allow it to be certified."
Really, Your Honor? Are you not bound NOT to be 'predisposed" regarding any aspect of the matter before you? Are you not supposed to hear all arguments with no previous bias?
Since the Judge has already stated her "predisposition" in this matter in front of the Press and CB6 has sent dozens of letters in support of moving ahead with this "Virtual Un-ULURP, maybe we can just skip the community appearances in front of the Community Board entirely. You know, to save time.
The majority of the Board has already expressed their eagerness to push on- even if the process isn't adhering exactly to the law.
And since there seems to be such a mad rush to okay a rezone process in a city where people are leaving in droves while in the middle of what one epidemiologist called a Hurricane 5 Surge of the Covid 19 pandemic, why stop at just skipping the public hearings portion? Why not just skip the CB6, Borough President's and the City Planning Commission's performances all together?
Hell, why don't we just put the plan into action right now. Let's not do the ULURP and say we did.
CG CORD
