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After years of inaction, the city is now planning to do something with a huge contaminated lot on the banks of the Gowanus Canal. On Monday, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced that for the next three months it will be accepting proposals from developers to turn the site at Smith and 5th Streets into a large mixed-use development. According to the press release, there are lots of requirements to comply with. In addition to conforming to HPD’s New Construction Sustainability Requirements (you know, green stuff), all proposals must include plans for at least 400 apartments, at least half of which must be affordable to low-, moderate-, and middle-income; there also has to be an unspecified amount of senior housing. In addition, HPD’s looking for a plan that includes lots of open space and community facilities. Before you get all excited and whip out your drafting implements, don’t forget that a lengthy, expensive environmental cleanup (which is being done by Keyspan) that has to happen before any building can even begin. What sort of public or community facilities would you like to see here?
Press Release: City Announces New Development for Public Place [HPD]
Here is Your Public Place Vision [Gowanus Lounge] GMAP
Public Place to Get Cleanup at Last [NY Daily News]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. This is all a joke, isn’t it?

    Low income and senior housing along the Gowanus waterway. Even if they cleanup the loacl project land, nothing is stoping the ever increasing pathogens in that waterway.

    Why can’t this community function? Why is the voice of the people always pushed aside like this? How can these guys make any claim that this project plan “meets the needs of our community”?

    This greatest need of this community is to address the CSO’s and other ongoing polution and this site should be used to that ends before any other considerstions for other uses are made.

  2. I live in the nabe – would love to see the whole thing made into a park and scrap the housing, market-rate and affordable. Only green space we have anywhere nearby is carroll park, which doesn’t have a patch of grass