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Welcome to the Hot Seat, where we talk to folks involved with Brooklyn real estate, development, architecture and the like. Introducing Paul Basile, the president of The Gowanus Alliance. The Gowanus Alliance is a nonprofit “dedicated to the enhancement and development of the residential, retail, commercial and industrial life of the Gowanus neighborhood.”

Brownstoner: What neighborhood do you live in, and how did you end up there?
Paul Basile: My parents settled in Park Slope when they immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1956. Park Slope was a working class community made up of Irish, German and the Italian newcomers. Many were longshoremen and factory workers toiling in the industrial factories of Gowanus. My Father, Salvatore, began to buy land throughout the Gowanus area using whatever money he saved doing construction work for the companies that called the area home at the time; companies like Kentile, Goya foods, Sucrest Sugar, and countless others. After I was born, at Long Island College Hospital on Atlantic Ave, my father felt it best to relocate his young family of four kids to Bay Ridge. However, most of his time was spent rebuilding the warehouses left behind by closing factories.

As a child, quality time with Dad meant learning how to lay brick or float concrete to the absolute perfect finish. We spent every spare minute cleaning vacant lots, fixing leaking roofs, and removing graffiti from gates and walls. If you know your Gowanus history, you know this was a full-time job. As an adult, I remained in Bay Ridge, but if you ask me where I live I would have to answer Gowanus, because I believe you technically live where you make your living.

BS: How did the Gowanus Alliance began? What is your role as President?
PB: Living and working in the community for so many years, I have had the pleasure of getting to know the residents, businesses and organizations that have filtered through the area. Experiencing many of the issues that affect people in our area, I feel I had the ability to unite the property owners and business owners so we could work on the issues that affect us today. Other organizations in the area, I felt, were too focused on what the Gowanus area could be or should be. I felt that we could do a better job fixing the issues for today; addressing why factories are closing doors, losing jobs; why our basements are flooding every time it rains; and why the city have money for every other park in the city except ours.

As president, it is my goal to form an alliance between the diverse occupants, so issues can be voiced with a unified vision. So often we see so-called gentrification without regard for existing land uses. The history of the Gowanus area has been one of working-class residents usually working in a warehouse or factory only blocks from were they reside. We believe this is what kept the neighborhood alive and worth preserving.

After the jump, Paul talks current projects, the Superfund designation and the Whole Foods site….