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]
Eryximachus—
Ahh yes. Good to see liberals showing their true colors. You have to remember, liberalism is a mental disorder.. it’s not their fault. A true liberal would not care of the value of their home. Thats capitalistic greed, you should sell your home for the amount you paid for it, and help your fellow man. What happened to Socialism? Did you NIMBY’s check it at the door? An I thought the blog would be slow today because of the holiday.
Exactly. This is not a building for “the poor” and will not make even an itty bitty dent in the affordable housing needs of the city. The developer will make plenty of money with 5, 6 OR 7 story construction. Also, I’m sure there are plenty of rich people here, but also renters, those who have owned a long time (okay…they are potentially rich if they sell), etc. and both lefties and righties (politically and holding-a-pencil wise…)
thank god there is still the developer, looking out for the best interest of the poor
On behalf of all the squirrels of 360 Smith, we love this neighborhood for the same reasons that you humans do: the bakeries, the deep front gardens, the proliferation of children who leave their Veggie Booty on the ground, the quiet tree-lined streets, the bakeries, the small-town feeling and, finally, did I mention the bakeries? This is a grass-roots effort: we don’t have a lot of money for lawyers, but we have a strong sense of community. We believe that a building this big is wrong for the neighborhood. The developers should not be allowed to define 2nd Place as a “wide street” (streets are measured from facade to facade, apparently, so those beautiful front gardens that define Carroll Gardens are considered part of the “street”) This allows the developers to build a much, much larger building. We are appealing to Amanda Burden to prevent the developers from exploiting this loophole. I encourage everyone to click on this link and let Ms. Burden, our Chair of City Planning know how you feel on this issue: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildcp.html
Sincerely,
Rocky Ferrarro
President, Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Squirrel Association
ah, at last!
Eryximachus has pronounced!
no further discussion will be necessary!
thank you all for participating
There seems to be some misunderstanding about the word “right”. In nature, there are no rights. Rights are privileges granted to PEOPLE by governments – which in the case of this fine city, derives authority directly from the people.
“the community” has no legal standing. There is an increasingly irrational stance that communities are some sort of quasi-political entity. They are not.
There are really only two possibilities in support of these irrational arguments , 1) work within the current political system to have zoning laws changed 2) secede from the City of New York and no longer be subject to its laws.
I do love the political connotations here that it’s republicans who are for these restrictive zoning measures. We have a bunch of rich assholes in Carroll Gardens who don’t want to share their precious enclave with those who don’t have enough money for a brownstone.
Yeah, that’s the spirit of liberalism. Let’s turn the entire country into a gated community and push all the poor people to the fringes of Eden!
Once again – the hypocritical mind of a liberal proves their insanity.
Hey Sterling! Where’ve you been, buddy boy! We miss ya!
Alright, see you on another thread!
As for bloggers on this board being right wing, Republican, “As of Right” assholes, thank God there’s some diversity of opinion on this board and we are not all masturbating to the sound of our own singular voice.
anon 12:29, your argument is that since the developer is building to the letter of the law, the residents should shut up, bend over and take it. There is no equation here between lawfully protesting what they feel is a bad law, and discrimination based on race. Laws get changed when sufficiently convincing arguments are made against them
If you live in a community and respect the opinions of your neighbors, most of the time they will respect yours. You may at times disagree with what they want and they may disagree with what you want – but then there is this thing called compromise. It is the most civil way to resolve issues and move forward in our world.
To date the developers have had sway over what is happening in our city. Most (as far as I can see) have very little respect for the people around them. The community is fed up – and fighting back. I see no problem with this.