Part 1:
Part 2:
[Credit: Fred C, Union-Sackett Block Association Member]
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
C.O.R.D. Letter to Mayor Bloomberg
Please help us write to the MAYOR!
Calling all Carroll Gardens!
Please Dear C. G. Resident:
Copy/paste this letter below and send it ASAP to Mayor Bloomberg! Here is the link...it's so easy!!
Dear Mayor Bloomberg:
We are Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. We have sought relief from the hyper-development that is taking place here through moratorium petition (3000+ signatures), contextual downzoning application (an undetermined wait time), amendments to the zoning text (a fairly lengthy and only partial solution), City Council Resolution (valiant and appreciated, but unbinding), expansion of our historic district (a volatile, divisive topic) and a rally at Borough Hall organized by our Councilman and Assemblywoman.
We have overcrowded schools, dirty streets and air, inadequate public transportation. We have far too many stop work orders regularly issued for dangerous construction situations. We have no nearby Post Office. Almost all of the private parking lots have been developed. All of our local elected officials have recently requested information from both the DOB and the MTA/NYCTA regarding their communication and procedures when construction is being conducted in close proximity to our subway tunnel. There are currently dozens of such projects, an unprecedented amount for our Smith Street corridor, most of which seemed to be completely under the MTA/NYCTA radar. We are all concerned. The pace here is fast, and all too often, homeowners are paying the price in property damages, simply for living next to, nearby or behind a developer who has hired careless workers employing, at times, questionable practices.
Read the local blogs, Mr. Mayor, take a look at our local papers. We have been crying out for months for help. We are not anti-development. All we want is thoughtful, responsible, respectful development. We love where we live. We would like to preserve it. Won't you please help us?
Respectfully,
XXXXX (sign you name here)
Thank you so much for your help! Together we will protect Carroll Gardens from overdevelopment!
CG C.O.R.D./Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development
visit www.carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com for a longer, more comprehensive letter, which can be mailed by hand.
Calling all Carroll Gardens!
Please Dear C. G. Resident:
Copy/paste this letter below and send it ASAP to Mayor Bloomberg! Here is the link...it's so easy!!
Dear Mayor Bloomberg:
We are Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. We have sought relief from the hyper-development that is taking place here through moratorium petition (3000+ signatures), contextual downzoning application (an undetermined wait time), amendments to the zoning text (a fairly lengthy and only partial solution), City Council Resolution (valiant and appreciated, but unbinding), expansion of our historic district (a volatile, divisive topic) and a rally at Borough Hall organized by our Councilman and Assemblywoman.
We have overcrowded schools, dirty streets and air, inadequate public transportation. We have far too many stop work orders regularly issued for dangerous construction situations. We have no nearby Post Office. Almost all of the private parking lots have been developed. All of our local elected officials have recently requested information from both the DOB and the MTA/NYCTA regarding their communication and procedures when construction is being conducted in close proximity to our subway tunnel. There are currently dozens of such projects, an unprecedented amount for our Smith Street corridor, most of which seemed to be completely under the MTA/NYCTA radar. We are all concerned. The pace here is fast, and all too often, homeowners are paying the price in property damages, simply for living next to, nearby or behind a developer who has hired careless workers employing, at times, questionable practices.
Read the local blogs, Mr. Mayor, take a look at our local papers. We have been crying out for months for help. We are not anti-development. All we want is thoughtful, responsible, respectful development. We love where we live. We would like to preserve it. Won't you please help us?
Respectfully,
XXXXX (sign you name here)
Thank you so much for your help! Together we will protect Carroll Gardens from overdevelopment!
CG C.O.R.D./Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development
visit www.carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com for a longer, more comprehensive letter, which can be mailed by hand.
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]
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]
Update from the Clarett Group
Dear all,
Here is the latest update on construction activity at 340 Court Street:
Asbestos abatement work will be wrapped up tomorrow morning (January 29th). Interior demolition will begin on Thursday. Interior demolition work will only occur on weekdays from 7 AM to 6 PM. A permit has been pulled and will be posted on the building.
An 8 foot tall plywood construction fence will be erected around the site next week (exact day tbd).
In response to inquiries from the community, Clarett has arranged for the flag pole that currently sits in the Court Street courtyard to be relocated to the courtyard in front of Scotto's Funeral home at the corner of 1st Place and Court. Clarett will also be donating the sign that hangs over the doorway to the archives of the Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen church.
Thanks,
David Lowin
Development Director
Monday, January 28, 2008
Responses to Daily News Article
Thanks to all those who responded to the Daily News article, both on the site and elsewhere. Here is a response that we found particularly interesting and relevant:
As a resident of Carroll Gardens Landmark Condominium, located in a converted church on Court Street about 150 feet away from the Claret site and protected by national Landmark status, it is quite disturbing to know that our 1868 stained glass windows will be subjected to the violent vibrations of the nearby construction site. These delicate stained glass windows are an irreplaceable part of this community's history, and while it is painful to know that listing on the National Register of Historic Places does not seem to provide any protections against nearby construction, it speaks volumes that the developers are so unfamiliar and out-of-touch with our neighborhood as to even make the effort to care. The historic structures in close proximity to this construction site should be pro-actively protected by these developers to insure that they remain important links to the past in our unique neighborhood fabric.
Jay A. Lubow
Senior Principal
Applied Design Initiative, LLC
Friday, January 25, 2008
JANUARY 29TH RALLY FOR CARROLL GARDENS DOWN-ZONING
RALLY
TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT CARROLL GARDENS,
SOUTH BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29TH
11:00 AM
16 COURT STREET
Join Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Assemblymember Joan Millman, The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association (CGNA), Carroll Gardens Coalition For Respectful Development (CORD), Baltic & Warren Neighbors, Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association and The Union-Sackett Block Association to support a resolution calling upon the Department of City Planning to immediately commence a downzoning study (50’height limit) of Carroll Gardens to protect our neighborhood and the Department of Buildings to implement the appropriate procedure to preserve the character of Carroll Gardens until the downzoning is complete.
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