Council Green-Lights Grand Street Rezoning
Yesterday the City Council approved the rezoning of Grand Street in Williamsburg. The 13-block parcel was left out of the area’s wider ’05 rezone, and most new buildings on the street will now only be able to rise to about six stories. Gowanus Lounge notes that “the rezone could force the redesign of more than…
Yesterday the City Council approved the rezoning of Grand Street in Williamsburg. The 13-block parcel was left out of the area’s wider ’05 rezone, and most new buildings on the street will now only be able to rise to about six stories. Gowanus Lounge notes that “the rezone could force the redesign of more than a dozen planned projects,” including two planned, Karl Fischer-designed buildings that were supposed to be 10 and 15 stories high. Good thing or bad?
Rezoning of Burg’s Grand Street Approved [Gowanus Lounge]
Grand Street Rezoning Approved [WGPA]]
Will Burg’s Grand Street Rezoning Chop Karl Fischer Towers? [Curbed]
Grand Street Rezoning [NYC.gov]
Update on Williamsburg/Greenpoint Rezonings [Brownstoner]
Maps from City Planning.
Terrible decision – zoning decisions should never be retroactive. Once someone purchases the land with the cost based on the zoning they should be allowed to build based on that zoning. The idea of restricting development after the fact is horrible, the foundation-poured standard is horrible. Zoning changes should only affect properties purchased AFTER the zoning changes, never before. NYC definitely needs more housing, and the more multifamily housing you build, regardless of how environmentally friendly the building is, the better for the environment. The more people can afford to live in NYC rather than CT. NJ, upstate or long island the better for the environment overall. The NIMBY scourge is merely a ploy to raise property values, as is the whole landmarks boondoggle, and everyone who would LIKE to buy a house/apartment is subsidizing it. Blech NY
It’s a great thing. Not everyone wants to live in midtown-style canyons
yep – ask the MTA NOT to connect the G – it will end up like the L, e-mail them at
http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/mta_nyc.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
DONT connect the G-train- that will make it overcrowded!
Fix up the G train and connect it to Atlantic Terminal and the city will gain tons of accessible new vacant lots for development. There is plenty of space in this city, city officials and developers just need to get a clue.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/connect-the-g-train
It’s a very good decision for Williamsburg. I don’t think developers have environmentalism in mind when they’re building these high towers, here and there in the city, with no regard for the previous character of the neighborhoods. This is good city planning. There are more than enough towers going up on the waterfront, near McCarren Park, and close to the Williamsburg Bridge. Let this part of the neighborhood remain low-rise.
brooklyn is full of undeveloped lots, theres no density problem and won’t be for years. its a red herring.
Congress needs to pass a law establishing once and for all that density restrictions should be illegal.
They are wholly discriminatory, exclusionary, and environmentally damaging.
Let local governments restrict adjacent uses, but multifamily housing should be allowed on every piece of land in the United States. Every property owner in the country should be allowed to build as much housing as he or she deems necessary or profitable.
This is a very bad thing. New York needs more density, for environmental sustainability, and this (right across the East River from Manhattan) would be an excellent place to put it.