Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Photos from the Rally for Downzoning

Please check out Pardon Me For Asking for more pictures and a good summary of the day's events. More updates and hopefully a video to come soon. Thanks to all those who made it out today, we greatly appreciate your efforts.

Here is a good run-down of the rally borrowed from the blog, Brownstoner, which is ironically well-decorated with advertisements for Clarett's Forte building:


About 50 people (and one well-dressed canine) showed at Borough Hall this morning to support the drive to downzone Carroll Gardens. Council Member Bill de Blasio organized the rally, and he had some big news to share: The Department of City Planning has officially committed to studying a downzoning of the neighborhood. The news comes hot on the heels of Planning’s announcement that it would initiate a a zoning text amendment to impose height limitations on 1st through 4th Place. De Blasio is also pushing for the city to impose building height limitations of 50 feet while the downzoning is studied. “We want to limit heights until a legal downzoning goes through,” de Blasio said at the rally. Representatives of Assemblywoman Yvette Clark and Assemblywoman Joan Millman also spoke in support of the downzoning, as did Gary Reilly of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association. “What attracts people to the neighborhood is its low scale,” said Reilly. “We want to prevent Carroll Gardens from becoming the next Williamsburg, with developers throwing up buildings willy-nilly.” De Blasio noted that downzonings typically take a year to a year and a half to push through, and time is of the essence in terms of downzoning Carroll Gardens since the clock is ticking on the current administration's term.
[From http://www.brownstoner.com]











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