Scarano Pushback on Smith
Some Carroll Gardens residents are very, very upset about a Scarano building that a developer wants to put up on the corner of Smith Street and Second Place. According to Gowanus Lounge, plans for an 8-story, 46-unit building of glass and metal were recently denied by the Department of Buildings. But neighbors are trying not…
Some Carroll Gardens residents are very, very upset about a Scarano building that a developer wants to put up on the corner of Smith Street and Second Place. According to Gowanus Lounge, plans for an 8-story, 46-unit building of glass and metal were recently denied by the Department of Buildings. But neighbors are trying not to leave anything to chance. Flyers have been popping up all over the nabe urging people to attend to show up for the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association meeting on June 11 at 7:30 PM at Buddy Scottos’ Funeral Parlor and to contact Community Board 6 to express concern over the scale and style of the project. And how’s this for street cred? The woman behind the flyers is the great grand daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright’s first cousin by marriage. Okay.
Smith Street Revolt Brewing Over Shiny New Building? [Gowanus Lounge]
Smith Street Could Get Very, Very Shiny [GL] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Photo by Kate Leonova for Property Shark
Ridiculous that some posters are accusing NIMBY’s and NEWBIES of blocking development in CG. I moved to CG in 1985. From 1985 through 2000 there was hardly any new building and I can’t think of one that was more than 4 stories tall. This new generation of developers who want to through up the cheapest POS they can build are the real NEWBIES and it’s ridiculous to react as through opposing them is somehow against truth justice and the american way. I say this all as a property owner with some skin the the game. I own a vacant lot on a prime street. Just becase zoning and DOB would allow me to build some POS there doesn’t mean I should.
And to Crawford, yes I have been to Amsterdam, Stockholm and Berlin. If you think Scarano type buildings in those cities wouldn’t be opposed then you’re as obtuse as a certain President who vacations in a town that shares your name. I’ve been to Paris and London too and have seen what a commitment to good archoitecture and building can do to enhance a city.
Fact is Scaranco is just a bad architect. If the proposal gave a little more thought to the neighborhood and was more interesting then it could be well-recieved. Much like Meier’s Prospect Park Condos. It doesn’t have to look like the buildings around it but it shouldn’t ignore the context either. This POS could be plopped anywhere in brooklyn.
Pete, precisely because this is where the elevated goes underground, this is a rare spot where you can wait for the train outside and enjoy a bit of sun until you see your train coming.
Agree, the open parking lot is ugly, and I’ll be glad to see it developed . . . the right way.
this project has been onScarano’s website for ages. Not sure why sudden news….new application with DOB?
Does sound a bit overdramatic…that this building will destroy neighborhood…while open parking lot and litter blowing across ‘plaza’, tons of those ugly free newspaper boxes, does not. And this is right after the elevated goes underground – and those elevated tracks somehow never destroyed the area.
“Why do we have to give in to higher density. People have a right to fight for the quality of life their neighborhood provides. Why do we need additional people and cars. Why do they have to give it up. Protecting one’s home and neighborhood goes back to when people lived in caves”
I wish the cavemen (and women) were as passoniate about their neighborhoods as modern-day man (and woman). We would not be having this discussion. Instead we could all be in caves that were contextual with the surrounding caves.
didn’t anyone notice that the rendering included a note saying the expected completion was 2005?
perhaps this project is already dead.
If I wanted to live in a place without sun and light, with ugly tall buildings everywhere…I would live in the Upper East Side, and spare myself the daily hour of F-train hell. But I live in Carroll Gardens because it is a special place with an extraordinary quality of lfe. NIMBY…damn right. I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep what makes this neighbourhood special. I am all for that ugly lot getting built with much needed housing, but really, how hard its it to design something that complements the neighbourhood and doesn’t destroy it.
If I wanted to live in a place without sun and light, with ugly tall buildings everywhere…I would live in the Upper East Side, and spare myself the daily hour of F-train hell. But I live in Carroll Gardens because it is a special place with an extraordinary quality of lfe. NIMBY…damn right. I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep what makes this neighbourhood special. I am all for that ugly lot getting built with much needed housing, but really, how hard its it to design something that complements the neighbourhood and doesn’t destroy it.
Crawford, your post was awesome. There’s just no getting through to these nimby’s.
An 8 story building next to a 4 story building is NO BIG DEAL. I live in a detached house boxed in by 6 story apartment buildings. I deal with it, I live in the densest city in America after all.
As for the design, why does everything have to be brick with you people? I’d rather see a great modern design like this one than a cheap brick imitation of 100 year old buildings. If there was any place for an 8 story building, it’s above a subway stop. Morons.
Get the hell out of Brooklyn and into the suburbs where you belong.