360 Smith: Update and Review of New Plans
No one can accuse the group of Carroll Gardeners protesting the large building that William Stein is trying to build at 360 Smith Street of lacking enthusiasm. Tact and subtlety, maybe, but definitely not enthusiasm. In the wake of the developer being granted permits to erect a fence around the property at the corner of…
No one can accuse the group of Carroll Gardeners protesting the large building that William Stein is trying to build at 360 Smith Street of lacking enthusiasm. Tact and subtlety, maybe, but definitely not enthusiasm. In the wake of the developer being granted permits to erect a fence around the property at the corner of Smith and Second Place last week, the group, which calls itself CORD (Coalition for Respectful Development), called for Bill de Blasio’s head on a stick in a somewhat manic email. Up to that point, de Blasio’s targeting of the project’s architect, Robert Scarano, had jibed nicely with CORD’s agenda of reducing the size and increasing the contextuality of 360 Smith. The issuing of the permits, however, prompted the protesters to accuse de Blasio of being “very disingenuous.” This email followed another in which they urged people to fight the building on behalf of the squirrels who like to hang out in the plaza and the circulation of a petition calling for a moratorium on the construction of any building over the height of 50 feet “until landmarking or a down-zoning is decided.” (The petition had over 800 signatures at last count.) The latest news, via a CORD email last night, is that the revised renderings (which have not been publicly released yet) are still unacceptable:
With or without the trademark Scarano elements the building is clearly massive. On the southern-most corner of the Smith Street side, where the building facade will be “commercial” not residential is a seventy foot tower. This rectangular prism juts vertically into space sure to cast an enormous shadow and act as a light barrier for all the buildings on Smith Street. The rest of the commercial facade is very tall and goes along the Smith street sidewalk with no set back and joins the Hannah Senesh School known for its VERY! eclectic mix and match materials and colored architecture. The new facade in turn, will cast an enormous shadow on Second Street.
It’s hard for us to weigh in on without seeing the new renderings but there’s no reason to think that the description above isn’t right on the money. Can anyone email the renderings to us (anonymity guaranteed)? In the meantime, if there’s anyone in the neighborhood with a background in public relations who opposes the project, you should think about donating your time to CORD. They would benefit from some polish and focus.
Scarano Pushback on Smith [Brownstoner] GMAP
Mixed Agendas at Anti-Scarano Rally on Smith Street [Brownstoner]
Everyone already knows the only person actually bashing Scarano is Bill d.B. and his crew. No one in the nabe cares.
They just want a smaller, more contextual building, that’s all!
Why is everyone calling reasonable people “idiots” and idiots “reasonable”? Where I come from it is so easy to tell the difference.
Why not get off the bashing Scarano band wagon for five minutes and look at the fact that NO ACTUAL ACTIONS were taken against him as a result of his design work while his office continues to win Local, State and National awards for their projects.
And the most important fact, THEY ARE NOT CONTRACTORS and are not now or ever were responsible for actions of the General Contractors at his sites.
Believe politicians and you deserve what you get from them, Nothing.
Take a chill pill already and look before you leap.
Maybe the developer is just being shrewd; what a surprise that would be.
Good luck trying to equate 360 Smith Street overdevelopment with Atlantic Yards, NIMBYS and BABANAS.
Over here in Carroll Gardens we like to call ourselves other names. But we have the good sense and the class to keep them to ourselves.
Maybe the developer is just being shrewd; what a surprise that would be.
Good luck trying to equate 360 Smith Street overdevelopment with Atlantic Yards, NIMBYS and BABANAS.
Over here in Carroll Gardens we like to call ourselves other names. But we have the good sense and the class to keep them to ourselves.
Maybe the developer knows that nothing he would do to change his development will ever satisfy people who are simply opposed to density while living in the most dense city in NYC. Following the pattern of the opponents of Atlantic Yards negotiation is simply futile. I understand he already changed his choice of materials to satisfy the community complaints. And the opposition continues. The NIMBYs and BANANAs are being played by the politicians who know this project is going forward but want to put on a show of opposition for their own electoral purposes. Go ahead fight to change the zoning, I’ll fight to have it remain the same. Good luck. I just want to get the improvements I have planned to my building underway before the City caves to the NIMBYs and takes away the rights I bought and paid for to build to R6 limits.
Look it’s one thing to call Hannah Senesh a “community” facility. Fine, if you want to go that way. But then don’t turn around and use that “community facility” argument to beef up the size of your “As Of Right” building on the adjoing property. That’s trying to have it both ways and it reeks.
And don’t conduct underhanded (and illegal)construction practice on Hannah Senesh and expect people not to notice.
And don’t call Second Place “wide” because of the Front Gardens and then say you love the neighborhood.
Go look for yourself: only one car at a time can go up Second Place; there are not even any trucks allowed to go up the street due to an earlier incident. Surely the developer and the architect drove up that block once.
I blame the developer, Billy Stein. If the developer had come to the community with actual drawings earlier, this might have proceeded better. Instead he hid behind a person or two in CG he called the “community” and called that a “public” discussion. The neighborhood in general for it’s part, was glad that the school was finally finished and breathing a sigh of collective relief over that construction phase being over, when the bombshell was “leaked” to the public that the 46 unit/70′ building was coming.
No one has given the public a shred of hard info on the project before that or since that day claiming “as of right” and the plans are “not available” yet downtown (despite their approvals) for any other architect to view. It is obvious that major games are being played here.
To date the public has not seen ONE! actual sketch from the devloper. Is there any wonder they are pissed off?
I totally blame the developer here and his choice of architect did not help matters at all, as it only brought him all the bad press that the Scarano name carries with it at present, not to mention the on-going State and City investigations.
Calling the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens “idiots” is actually rather humorous.
the stupidity continues
Anonymous,
What’s your point? To provide benefit to the broader community all new schools must be red brick? Or small? Or public?
We might send our kids to Hannah Senesh when they are a bit older. If Hannah Senesh didn’t exist or didn’t have the space, then my kids would occupy crowded classroom space at a local public school.
New private schools, red brick or otherwise, are an important part of the school over-crowding solution. New private schools have the potential to be built faster and with far less bureaucracy than new public schools. So, I’m perfectly happy to see new private schools opening up (even though we can barely afford them ourselves).
Should we have excellent, well-funded, high-quality public schools too? Yes.
Should we also be happy to see a new school opening up on Smith Street. Definitely.
(This is the one without typos, sorry for the second post). Hannah Senesh is a private Jewish school. It will open this fall I believe. That’s not the same thing at all as building more classrooms for the general community which so desperately needs them. Most people’s kids go to public school because they can not afford private school. The Hannah Senesh building used to be a lower, red brick building occupied by the Department of Education (formerly the Board of Education). I know because I worked in that building for many, many years. Now it’s taller, private, and defintiely not red brick or anything like it.