“For about 30 years I’ve been on bended knee,” says Buddy Scotto, “begging developers to come into Carroll Gardens. It’s hard for people who haven’t been involved to understand how difficult it’s been.” Scotto, who was born on Court Street and owns several properties in the neighborhood, including the Scotto Funeral Home on 1st Place, is referring to neighborhood residents who’ve been calling for a moratorium on all new construction over 50 feet. The most vocal of those activists have organized as a group called CORD, or the Coalition to Respectfully Develop. “All of a sudden there are all these people who are concerned about high buildings are going to be,” says Scotto, the “unofficial mayor” of the neighborhood who helped create the Carroll Gardens Civic Association in 1964 and played a significant role in getting the Gowanus Canal flushing tunnel reactivated in the late ’90s. Scotto says he supports the current plans for the Public Place site, Clarett’s project at 340 Court, Billy Stein’s development at 360 Smith, and the Toll Brothers’ project next to the Gowanus Canal. Scotto answers critics of new development by saying that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” adding, “what I’ve tried to call Clarett is that this intensity of feeling about Carroll Gardens is what will help sell their development. It’s all a plus.” While Scotto welcomes the development projects now on tap, he also believes that most of the neighborhood should be landmarked, which he says he’s been pushing for since his civic organization helped get four blocks in the area landmarked in 1973. Scotto is working with Bob Furman, formerly of the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance, to raise funds for a landmarking study, while another group, the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, is also independently trying to raise funds. “While I’m excited about all the new development,” says Scotto, “I have been anxiously awaiting the landmarking of the whole neighborhood since 1973.”
Calls for Reining in Development at Carroll Gardens Meeting [Brownstoner]
Time for a Moratorium on the Moratorium Talk? [Brownstoner]
Photo from nyc.gov.