Planning
October 7, 2009
The Fate of the Broadway Triangle
It's going to be a big month for the Broadway Triangle, the city's nine-block redevelopment site in South Williamsburg that has attracted a fair share of controversy. The City Planning Commission was scheduled to vote today on the plan, which calls for 1,850 new apartments with about half reserved for affordable housing, but postponed the vote until October 19 (it was originally scheduled for September 23, but was already rescheduled once before). The City Council will also discuss the vote later this month at the Land Use Committee hearing. Finally, the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, the meta-organization that formed to oppose the city's plan primarily due to its closed-door process, filed suit against Mayor Bloomberg and the Housing Department and the court date is currently set for October 19. "The coalition’s plan is unlikely to succeed," writes Matt Chaban in The Architect's Newspaper, but he mentions that their actions have raised awareness with the community board and the Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development regarding the nebulous planning process, and perhaps this awareness will trickle down with some positive effect for the coalition.
Gathering Storm [Architect's Newspaper]
Community Groups Sue City over Broadway Triangle [Brownstoner]
September 24, 2009
The City Spurs Grocery Stores to Underserved
The Bloomberg administration, which has already cut down on trans fats and distributed fruit vendors to produce-anemic neighborhoods, is now seeking to provide incentives for grocery stores to open in areas where most families spend their food budget at bodegas and drug stores. The City Planning Commission unanimously approved the proposal on Wednesday, reports The New York Times, which would grant zoning and tax incentives to grocery stores, with set requirements about how much produce and other foods they sell. The city is eying northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and downtown Jamaica in Queens. Many city officials, food experts, and grocery store executives approve of the plan, meant to spur economic growth in addition to encouraging health (and fighting the rising rates of obesity and diabetes), but the Times mentions a recent report to Congress by the Department of Agriculture that shows an uncertain correlation between obesity and access to healthy, fresh foods. Avi Kaner, a supermarket operator, said education is the main solution. “If you force distribution of product to a population that’s not interested in it, or not educated in it, and the grocery stores can’t make a profit,” he told the Times, “they’ll eventually leave.” Check out the Times article for more details about the program, similar programs across the country, and a finer breakdown of the pros and cons.
A Plan to Add Supermarkets to Poor Areas [NY Times]
FRESH Food Store Program Overview [DOCP]
NYC's Neighborhood Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage [DOCP]
Photo by Royce Bair
September 4, 2009
Park Slope Library to Close in Fall
The Brooklyn Public Library's Park Slope branch at Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street is going to close this fall for renovations, reports The Brooklyn Paper, for up to two years. The $2 million renovation to the 1906 building will include the addition of an elevator, an air-conditioning system, an outdoor ramp, and restrooms to accommodate handicapped visitors. The city informed the Paper that construction will begin in the fall and the two-year cap is the maximum amount of time that the branch will remain closed. A start date hasn't been announced, but the BPL said that there will be a public meeting to discuss the project. GMAP
Photo by ZippyTheChimp
September 3, 2008
Grand Army Plaza's Impending Makeover
“No one cares to cross it. It is devoid of all life and is a stony waste. It is suggestive of Siberia in winter and Sahara in summer.” This was how an 1888 report by Brooklyn’s Parks Commission described Grand Army Plaza, the Calvert Vaux- and Frederick Law Olmstead-designed entrance to Prospect Park. Clearly, it gets plenty of use these days, but navigating the 11-acre space, either by car or on foot, can be both nerve-wracking and dangerous. So, the New York Times reports, a group called the Grand Army Plaza Coalition is working to get GAP redesigned, this time with cars (and pedestrians) in mind. Two hundred groups submitted proposals to the Design Trust for Public Space, and 30 finalists were chosen; on September 12, a jury, including our own Mr. B, will announce the winner.
In the Heart of Brooklyn, No Man's Island [NY Times]
Grand Army Plaza. Photo by Tanuzzo Design Studio.
August 19, 2008
Whose Governors Island Is It?
Brooklyn is closer to Governors Island than any other land mass—a mere 400 yards—but, alas, it belongs to Manhattan. The New York Times revived the grumbling about what some perceive as this unfairness in an article this weekend. "Although the island is legally part of Manhattan, its sewage and water pipes pass through Brooklyn. As a result, some irate Brooklynites regard their borough as the service entrance, Manhattan as the front door and Governors Island as the parlor where the influential entertain their guests." Some think the answer is to allow the two boroughs to share claim to the place, the way Manhattan and Queens each have a stake in Roosevelt Island. Is that the solution?
Governors Island 013. Photo by joevare.
May 13, 2008
Irony Alert: City Honors Longshoreman at Cruise Terminal
Remember when the city Economic Development Corporation was trying to evict American Stevedoring and its hundreds of longshoremen employees from the Red Hook Piers? Neither do we. Well, now that everything is cool at the piers and the longshoremen won a 10-year lease, it makes total sense that the city hold a ceremony there this Tuesday "to pay tribute to the workers who made the waterfront great and to those who are working today to revitalize the great Port of New York," said a city press release. They city, elected officials and "supporters of the working waterfront" are celebrating the rededication of The Working Brooklyn Waterfront, a mural made in 1963 by noted artist Bernard Seaman. The mural was first installed in the Brooklyn Longshoremen's Medical Center in Cobble Hill. It was reinstalled at the cruise terminal when that building was scheduled for demolition "due largely to the efforts of the members of the ILA Local 1814 and funded by NY Container Terminal." Although never addressed by name, we're going to guess "NY Container Terminal" is American Stevedoring, the EDC's old nemesis. Glad to see everyone's put that whole mess behind them.
Lease Ends Uncertainty for Red Hook Cargo Docks [NY Times]
City Releases Vision for Container Port [NY Post]
EDC Plan for Container Port [Brownstoner]
Photo by Seth Holladay.
April 29, 2008
Q&A With Isabel Hill, "Brooklyn Matters" Filmmaker
On Thursday Cobble Hill Cinemas will host a free screening of "Brooklyn Matters," the documentary about Atlantic Yards. The film, which examines how Atlantic Yards came about and what the project's possible ramifications are, came out early last year and has been shown in a number of venues, including colleges and universities like Pratt and NYU. Isabel Hill, the director and producer of "Brooklyn Matters," talked to us about the movie's relevance now that Atlantic Yards is likely to be stalled and how audiences have reacted to her work. The main thrust of Hill's documentary is that Atlantic Yards has ignored decades-old urban planning wisdom and techniques. Hill worked as a planner for many years before making the film.
Now that you’ve been showing the documentary for a while, have you noticed a difference in audience reaction over time?
Hill:Yes, frankly, there does seem to be more outrage over the specific elements of this project. When I first started showing the film, I think many people were just surprised when they discovered the overwhelming scale of the many proposed skyscrapers. Most people initially understood the project to consist of a sports arena and a vague outline of other development. When they saw the monumental scale of the proposed buildings, most first-time viewers were incredulous. Also, when I first began showing the film, viewers were shocked at the ways this project circumvented public process and how project advocates manipulated public perception. Now, I think as people know more about Atlantic Yards, they are incensed when they see the film and more fully understand the drastic and long-lasting impacts of this proposal—a proposal we taxpayers are subsidizing. What I’ve seen is that the film consistently is a revelation to viewers whether they know nothing, little, or a lot about the project.
Is the documentary still as relevant now that Atlantic Yards faces delays?
Hill:"Brooklyn Matters" is even more relevant and important now than it was the day it was released. Markets have slowed the rate of progress on Atlantic Yards and allowed more and more people to study the project more closely. It is especially important that the new Paterson administration see the film during this time. In the past, many interested community leaders and residents felt side-lined by the fact that the real estate market was traveling so fast and furious. Atlantic Yards was marketed as a “done deal” and many believed it. Now that more and more people realize that the project is not a done deal, it is even more important to act. We can’t just sit back and see what happens here. This is an opportunity for our elected officials and citizens to rethink what should happen on this important public site—the Vanderbilt rail yards. There must be an outcry against Atlantic Yards, and the film is critical to reaching more and more people with this truth.
Did the finished movie differ much from the movie you set out to make?
Hill: Documentary filmmaking is a process. When you set out to make a documentary, you don’t know exactly where this great adventure will take you so there were things that evolved and changed over the course of making the film. But my frame of reference was always the same. I have worked as an urban planner in Brooklyn for over twenty years and it is through the lens of a planner that I viewed the Atlantic Yards project.
Images from Brooklyn Matters
April 24, 2008
Gowanus Rezoning on the Horizon
Plans for the rezoning of Gowanus, which have been brewing for more than a year now, are about to make their official debut. Yesterday Purnima Kapur, director of City Planning's Brooklyn Office, said that the draft rezoning plan for the Gowanus Canal Corridor will be unveiled next month. "What we're planning to do is go out to the community and start a discussion about the rezoning," says Kapur. The DCP official says that the rezoning plan will more or less adhere to the draft land-use framework released last January (as shown above), and that the department will propose rezoning about 25 blocks. "We studied 60 blocks," says Kapur, "and we came to the conclusion that two-thirds should remain manufacturing." Mixed-use zoning that allows for residential construction will mainly be proposed in the north section of the area under consideration, with the biggest chunk running from 3rd Street to Sackett between the canal and 4th Avenue. Per the draft framework, the rezoning will allow for the construction of building that are largely 6 to 8 stories with limited portions setback from the neighborhood allowed to rise between 12 and 14 stories next to the canal. Kapur says the department hopes to get community consensus on the draft proposal sometime over the summer and then begin working on an Environmental Impact Statement, which should take between 8 and 9 months to complete. If this timeframe is followed, the rezoning will be certified for ULURP sometime in early 2009, before there's a change in the current city administration. Kapur says she's excited about bringing the rezoning to fruition. "We were asked by the community board to look into the rezoning, which is how the whole process started," she says. "Gowanus is a unique area between two thriving communities, and it provides a potential for new uses that could build on its unique character."
Gowanus Rezoning: Complete Chaos [Brownstoner]
Gowanus Rezoning Proposal by Late Spring or Summer [GL]
Gowanus Canal Corridor Framework [nyc.gov]
April 21, 2008
Without Community Input, is PlaNYC in Trouble?
It's "Sustainable Watch" week over at Gotham Gazette, which means the publication has several articles about what the future holds for the Bloomberg administration's PlaNYC, the city's vision for 2030 that's supposed to make New York greener and help prepare for an influx of (a projected) 1 million more residents over the next couple decades. One piece locates a "fundamental flaw in the mayor's approach to long-term planning" in the wake of congestion pricing's defeat: The fact that PlaNYC's approach largely sidesteps input from communities, making it "a one-way, top-down process...As a result, grassroots support for the plan, and congestion pricing, was limited to passive assent and a more enthusiastic core of environmental groups." In other words, no matter how good individual facets of PlaNYC are, it's quite possible that many may never come to fruition, doomed by a lack of community support for their implementation and the mayor's term limits:
PlaNYC's methodology is linear, dealing with simple cause-effect relations that may have little to do with complex neighborhood-based visions. For example, planting a million trees would reduce greenhouse gases by a quantifiable amount. Congestion pricing would reduce car trips by a predictable percentage. But as the congestion pricing debate proved, it is simply not enough to make one isolated change a city priority when its local impacts are not clear. This kind of "results-oriented" thinking ignores the complexity of life in the city and is especially unsuited to a multicultural city where many, perhaps even a majority of residents, find this approach to be alien.
The question now, perhaps, is whether it's too late to give community-based planning a significant voice in what should be a discussion—not a monologue—about New York's future.
Is the Long-term Sustainability Plan Sustainable? [Gotham Gazette]
Legislation To Boost Community-Based Planning [Brownstoner]
Photo by jennifer easton.
April 18, 2008
Bright Ideas, Big Cities
In the new issue of Metropolis, Karrie Jacobs pens an interesting piece about how big-city mayors in the U.S. "have emerged as a sort of government in exile, putting forth a remarkably progressive, and occasionally visionary, domestic agenda while the federal government has been AWOL." Here in New York we know all about having a mayor who thinks big, but Jacobs hardly mentions Bloomberg. She concentrates, instead, on Martin O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore, who spoke about how forming a response network to address emergencies like terrorist attacks or natural disasters was a job best handled close to home, since Washington "will be thirty to forty years catching up with this reality," and San Francisco's Gavin Newsom, who talks about green initiatives for his city and says, “When you’re going to get serious about addressing the issues of global climate change, it will be happening, by definition, in urban cores...We’re basically following these UN environmental accords and doing it in the absence of leadership from our states and respective federal governments.” As we look forward to a new administration, Jacobs concludes, our future president should take note that cities are no longer something to be fixed, but should be acknowledged as planning leaders, "not only to give them the succor they’ve been denied in the past eight years but also to learn from them how this country can once again move forward." Isn't it pretty to think so?
Like Urban Renewal, Only Backward [Metropolis]
Photo by Just-Us-3.
April 16, 2008
Gowanus Group Proposes 'Sponge Park' to Soak Run-Off
The Gowanus Canal Conservancy unveiled a rendering of its proposed esplanade along the canal, adorably dubbed "Sponge Park" (you know, because it will absorb runoff that contributes to the sewage overflow problem). The above rendering, by local landscape architecture firm dlandstudio, is a view from Third Street looking north. The project assumes a 40-foot easement alongside the canal, consistent with waterfront access requirements elsewhere in the city. Like Williamsburg and Greenpoint, any rezoning of Gowanus would likely require public waterfront access and design standards so, for example, the street lamps and park benches are consistent along the entire esplanade. Gowanus presents a unique challenge because its crumbling bulkheads are expensive to replace and obtaining a waterfront permit is a complicated venture that has been one of many vexing issues for Whole Foods. The dlandstudio plan is interesting because, judging from the fast-moving slide show on their website, the waterfront is lined with retention basins and filtration systems that would prevent some runoff from pouring directly into the canal—although the main source of oily runoff is the Gowanus Expressway that looms above, creating grotesquely beautiful swirls of color the day after a long-awaited rain. Yum. The Conservancy will be hosting its public presentation April 21, 6:30 p.m. at P.S.58, 330 Smith Street at the corner of Carroll Street.
Gowanus Photo Gallery [Brownstoner]
DOB Puts Partial SWO on Whole Foods Site [Brownstoner]
April 2, 2008
W'Burg Builders Sue, Say Rezoning Like Eminent Domain
Rezoning and eminent domain (and landmarking) have been the hottest topics in Brooklyn development over the years, and a group of Williamsburg property owners are saying they're one in the same. Dozens of property owners affected by last week's Grand Street rezoning are preparing to sue the city, as detailed in The Real Deal. The owners charge the proposal was ramrodded through the approval process to prevent their participation. One petitioner said eminent domain is almost better. "The government is required to compensate you for the loss at some sort of market rate," he said. "Whereas in zoning … there's no requirement for compensation and a very limited requirement for notice." John Isdith and his father, Carlos, pictured above, are among dozens of small-time developers who, now forced to reduce their project, said they're considering joining the suit. Do the two have similarities? Which is more unfair—downzoning or eminent domain?
Williamsburg Developers, Homeowners to Sue City [TRD]
Council Green-Lights Grand Street Rezoning [Brownstoner]
March 12, 2008
Legislation To Boost Community-Based Planning
A new law is going to be introduced to the City Council that may radically alter how planning initiatives like rezonings are undertaken in New York City. The legislation, which is a byproduct of the Municipal Arts Society's longstanding Campaign for Community-Based Planning, will seek to extend the influence of 197-a plans, which are produced by communities in order to influence the shape of things to come in their neighborhoods. "Through extensive public outreach and community deliberation, 197-a plans establish a guide for city agencies to act by articulating a wide range of community priorities," says Planning spokesperson Jennifer Torres. "Throughout the city...197-a plans have resulted in actions that reflect the community’s vision." Be that as it may, in real life 197-a's have zero legislative weight. "197-a has been flawed because it’s basically the city saying that neighborhoods can have a say in development but in fact it has no force of law," says Queens Councilman Tony Avella, who will be one of the lawmakers introducing the bill. "A good example of this is that the Council recently voted to approve Columbia’s expansion, which contradicts the neighborhood’s 197-a." (Brooklyn 197-a's include those that have already been adopted for Red Hook, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, as well as one that's in the works in Sunset Park.)
The legislation would "affect the whole constellation of city planning initiatives," says Eve Baron, director of the Municipal Arts Society's Planning Center. Baron says that "on paper, 197-a is great because it's community-initiated and consensus driven" and "a way to say, "'This is our vision for the future of the neighborhood, based on need and aspiration.'" The problem is not with 197-a's intended purpose, she notes, but with its efficacy. "While it's potentially a great tool, it's ultimately only an advisory document," she notes. Baron says the Campaign for Community-Based Planning also wants to right some of the perceived problems with 197-a, including the fact that there's no central pool of funding available for neighborhoods to draw on when they want to develop them and that while 197-a's tend to be driven by community boards, CBs may or may not represent all the interests in a given area. Avella says he's ironing out the legalese in the bill now and hopes to introduce it to the Council by summer. "There’s going to be a fight over this since the real estate industry controls this town, and they’re not going to be happy about anything that might limit their ability to build and make money," he says. "This'll be a way to have planning happen from the bottom up, rather than from the top down."
Campaign for Community-Based Planning [Municipal Arts Society]
197-a [NYC.gov]
March 6, 2008
Closing Bell: Competition to Reinvent GAP
The Design Trust for Public Space has recently announced an exciting competition that all Brooklynites should care about: Reinventing Grand Army Plaza. Working with theGrand Army Plaza Coalition, the Design Trust is reaching out to the global community of designers, architects, urban planners and others to generate fresh ideas for the plaza's future. "Currently an underdeveloped public amenity, a redesign of Grand Army Plaza will invigorate surrounding communities, just as the re-conception of Manhattan's High Line set off an explosion of activity in West Chelsea," says the competition brief. First prize is $5,000 and submissions are being accepted until April 25; details can be found here. Oh, and if you check out the list of jurors, you might recognize someone.
Rethinking Grand Army Plaza: Safety and Utility [Brownstoner]
February 4, 2008
Planning: Carroll Gardens Has to Wait in Line for Downzone
Carroll Gardens isn’t going to be getting any special favors from the Dept. of City Planning. Although Councilman Bill de Blasio announced last week that Planning had agreed to consider downzoning the neighborhood, a department rep told The Brooklyn Paper that they “are unable to commit to a precise timeframe” for a downzoning study. The city also said that that the Councilman’s bid for a moratorium on all new buildings over 50 feet wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, because it would require an extensive environmental review. Neighborhood group CORD, which has been pushing for a building moratorium on all new construction over 50 feet, issued a statement saying that "Carroll Gardens recognizes the need and sympathizes with the frustrations of each and every other neighborhood looking for relief through rezoning," and that they are "not looking to shove anyone out of the way. We want to see more 'windows' open up to service those of us waiting on line." They also had harsher words for Planning: "Given the incredible rate of development in Brooklyn over the last several years, it is difficult for us to understand how City Planning can still be so understaffed and overwhelmed."
CG Rises Up Against Development [Brooklyn Paper]
At Rally, News of Carroll Gardens Downzoning Progress [Brownstoner]
January 22, 2008
Planning Extends AIA Zoning Public Review
The Dept. of City Planning has extended the public-review period for the zoning text changes proposed by the American Institute of Architects. Although Planning intended to have a public hearing on AIA’s proposal on February 13th, the hearing has now been postponed. The institute’s amendments to the city’s Zoning Resolution are going through a process called “non-ULURP” that involves most of the same things as ULURP—such as a land-use review application and a public-review period—but aren’t subject to the same time frame as ULURP (which, for example, requires that community boards hold public hearings on a certified application within 60 days). Because the AIA changes are coming from a private entity and not the city, in other words, the burden of convincing the public, community boards, the city, etc. of its merits rests with AIA. Planning’s extension of the review period (the department hasn't yet scheduled a new date for the hearing) means that the public has more time to learn about the proposal, and the Historic Districts Council is going to have an informational session about it this Wednesday.
AIA’s Zoning Tweaks Draw Heat [Brownstoner]
Proposed Zoning [AIA]
January 7, 2008
Could the Gowanus Expressway Become a Greenway?
Here's one for the awesome-ideas-that'll-probably-never-happen file: The American Institute of Architects has drafted a design for replacing the Gowanus Expressway with a greenway on 3rd Avenue and putting a cable-suspension roadway on 1st Avenue, according to an article in yesterday's Daily News. "The Gowanus Expressway is an aesthetic blight to the communities it straddles," said architect Glen Cutrona, who spearheaded the design project. "When it was constructed, it fractured the community. And while we're aware that Third Ave. needs to be a vehicular corridor, it also lends itself to greening." A plan to replace the expressway with a tunnel has been studied for more than 20 years but has so far come to nothing.
Make Gowanus Go Away [NY Daily News]
Expressway photo by gkjarvis; rendering from the Daily News.
December 21, 2007
Burg Downzone in the Works
City Planning is moving forward with a zoning amendment to a 13-block chunk of Williamsburg that was left out of the area’s 2005 rezoning. The amendment will change Grand Street’s zoning between Berry and the BQE from R6 (sky’s the limit) to R6B (max height=50 feet). The city’s been working on the tweak for a while now, and Curbed’s been reporting on how developers have been trying to "beat the downzone” by planning high-rises. The proposal still needs to be OK’d by CB1, the Planning Commission and the City Council.
Grand Street Rezoning [nyc.gov]
City Planning Approves Williamsburg Zoning Amendment [Brooklyn Eagle]
New Williamsburg Tall Building Smackdown Coming [Curbed]
Map from nyc.gov.
December 12, 2007
Not Too Late For AY to Go Through ULURP?
Although Dan Doctoroff signed an agreement with the state and Forest City Ratner in ’05 that allowed the developer to sidestep ULURP for Atlantic Yards, thus substantially weakening the community’s say in the mega-project, the outgoing deputy mayor is now singing a different tune. “If it happened again, and the state were to ask if I would encourage them to take Atlantic Yards through the ULURP process, I would say yes,” Doctoroff tells the Observer in an interview. But is it really too late for Atlantic Yards to go through the public-review planning process? In a press release, Develop Don’t Destroy spokesman Daniel Goldstein argues that it’s not. “As the project has not begun construction—and can't while it faces two court challenges—Mayor Bloomberg can get it right and send the development of the Vanderbilt Yards through ULURP; it's what his soon-to-be former, highly praised and trusted right hand man thinks is appropriate," says Goldstein. We agree: Better late than never for Brooklyn’s largest development, a project that is going to receive substantial public financing and forever alter the borough.
Doctoroff Looks Back on Atlantic Yards [NY Observer]
Doctoroff: Atlantic Yards Should Have Gone Through ULURP [DDDB]
Photo by pencer T. Tucker for nyc.gov.
November 23, 2007
Brooklyn Bridge Park: Your Input, Please
Hot on the heels of news that progress on Brooklyn Bridge Park hasn’t exactly been moving quickly comes an email from the park’s conservancy about “welcoming public input” for the $150 million park’s future uses and programming. The conservancy is holding a meeting next Monday aimed at soliciting recommendations for the types of facilities, infrastructure and events the park should have, which it says is part of a year-long effort to develop a strategic plan for the site. "Brooklyn Bridge Park will be a regional park," says BBP conservancy prez Marianna Koval, "not simply a spectacular front yard to the adjoining neighborhoods. How do we learn lessons from other urban parks and create a welcoming, active space with broad appeal, but also allow for passive enjoyment? It will no doubt be about balance." No doubt. Suggestions for Koval and co.? The meeting will take place at Congregation Mt. Sinai at 250 Cadman Plaza West starting at 6:30 p.m.
Has Brooklyn Bridge Park Stalled Out? [Curbed]
Public Meeting on Programming in BBP [BBP Conservancy]
October 1, 2007
Plan for Breathing Life into Downtown Ghost Parks
In a Times profile of Project for Public Spaces founder founder Fred Kent, the urban anthropologist calls the half-mile stretch of parks running north of Borough Hall a prime example of public space that could be better utilized. According to Kent, the frequently deserted parks could be transformed into a lively pedestrian market like Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Kent envisions a market dotted with art stalls and produce stands that connects to the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, resulting in what “could be the best approach to the waterfront in the United States.” And Kent says the cost to develop the market would be less than $2 million, with rents from the market paying off the outlay within a couple of years. Seems like a great idea to us. Think it’s realistic?
Brooklyn Borough Hall [NY Times]
September 27, 2007
Controversial Planning Commish May be on the Way Out
Dolly Williams’ days on the city Planning Commission may be numbered. Marty Markowitz appointed Williams, a developer and co-founder of A. Williams Construction, to represent Brooklyn on the commission in ’02. Since then, many critics have charged Williams can’t effectively serve as a commissioner because of conflicts of interest. For example, Williams wasn’t able to vote on Atlantic Yards because she’s an investor in the project, and she won’t be able to vote on the rezoning of Gowanus because she owns property in the area. For now, Marty is keeping mum about whether he’s going to reappoint Williams. “Dolly and I have been considering what is best for Brooklyn," he said. "I expect to make a decision soon."
Markowitz May Pull Plug on Dolly Williams [NY Daily News]
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Chickadee Chick
added November 6, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Vutera
added November 5, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Park Cafe
added November 4, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Bahia
added November 3, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Aqualis Grill
added November 2, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Wombat
added October 30, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Organic Heights
added October 29, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Giardini Pizza
added October 28, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Rye
added October 27, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Bati
added October 26, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene