Man on the Street: Ready for a Rezone, Sunset Park?
With City Planning promising to fast track a study that could result in much of Sunset Park being rezoned, we hit the neighborhood to ask people whether they’d heard about the possible change and what they thought about it. Our completely unscientific survey found that while most Sunset Parkers didn’t know about the rezoning push,…
With City Planning promising to fast track a study that could result in much of Sunset Park being rezoned, we hit the neighborhood to ask people whether they’d heard about the possible change and what they thought about it. Our completely unscientific survey found that while most Sunset Parkers didn’t know about the rezoning push, a lot of them are in favor of putting caps on how high developers can build. Here’s what a few of the folks we polled had to say.
“I’ve heard something about it. Personally, I don’t like the new condos—I work in Williamsburg, and I’ve seen how they’re changing the neighborhood. I’d like Sunset Park to stay the way it is now.”
Roberto; has lived in Sunset Park all my life
“I haven’t heard about it, but I think it’s a good idea. I don’t like high buildings.”
Joanna; has lived in Sunset Park for five years.
“First time I’ve heard about it. I don’t think they should be able to build any higher, though. Sunset Park is decent and nice, but the neighborhood needs to be kept cleaner.”
Boysie; has lived in Sunset Park for 10 years
“I agree with downzoning because it’s Brooklyn. If you want high buildings, you can go to Manhattan.”
Yenny; has lived in Sunset Park for 15 years.
“I haven’t heard about it, but they need to ask a lot of questions about aesthetics and culture before they make any decisions. They need to find a balance. I like high buildings, but I also like that Brooklyn is like a village but it’s still the city. It’s not something that should be decided quickly.”
Natalia; has lived in Borough Park for three years; often visits Sunset Park
Sunset Park One Step Closer to Rezoning [Brownstoner]
Everyone should visit the Park in Sunset Park and watch a sunset there before jumping to any conclusion. Its one of the best views in all of Brooklyn, and to box it in would be a loss to everyone.
A “view-corridor” rezoning might be a good middle-ground, allowing for taller buildings down near the water where the elevations are lowest.
One of the potential problems with mid-rise construction on 4th Avenue in Sunset Park is that it will effectively PRIVATIZE the spectacular view from Sunset Park. Instead of hundreds of neighborhood residents being able to enjoy a view that encompasses Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline all the way to midtown, only those select few with upper floor western facing apartments will have that privilege. I have lived in Sunset Park for 15 years. It is a neighborhood of working class, moderate and middle income folks. Nothing fancy. The great amenity of our neighborhood is our beautiful park, and if chunks of that view are blocked (no doubt it would be in exchange for a paltry number of affordable apartments), it would really be sad.
I’m very bothered by the idea that there’s nowhere left in Brooklyn to build new apartments. In my travels throughout Brooklyn, especially in poorer neighborhoods, I see tons of falling down old structures and plenty of still-vacant lots. There’s no reason to sacrifice an irreplaceable view of New York harbor, as seen from the second highest point of elevation (the highest is in Greenwood Cemetary), for the sake of the promise of additional housing units.
RE: Guest 10:24 The South Slope rezoning DID indeed happen overnight (in rezoning terms) It was pushed through at a record speed of under one year.
My point is that the locals were not well informed about the zoning change. All of the focus was on the large developers building the 8-12+ story condos. Most people who own 2 story homes, unless they are specifically told, are not going to assume that they can not add a room on the back of their house.
I’m speaking with some experience as an architect, living in the South Slope neighborhood, and being approached by a few potential clients wanting to do a small addition. They were all shocked that they could no longer do what they wanted. And when they find this out, their opinion of the movement to change the zoning shifts towards the negative side.
And trying to be “proactive” when it comes to undertaking a construction project and dealing with applications to the DOB, doesn’t always cut it. Even planning, filing, financing, and constructing a small addition can take well over 1-2 years to undertake…unless you are loaded with cash.
Guest 10:16
i just wish the condos on 4th wernt so ugly
Fourth avenue can handle much taller buildings, large swaths of the four-lane corridor are vastly underdeveloped. sidestreets with brownstones are a completely different story. I hope that the downzoning process takes this into account.
Re. 10:16, it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock for people that a change in zoning might actually affect their own ability to add a kitchen or another story. These changes don’t happen overnight, so people could get the new addition started before the zoning goes into effect if they were at all proactive about it.
The same sort of expediency worked its way through the South Slope just recently. There was a lot of hype about stopping all of the over-scaled development and the greedy developers. The down-zoning was passed.
Now, there are those one or two-family homeowners who are now finding out that they won’t be allowed to add on that new kitchen addition or guest floor they have always been dreaming of and were told they would be able to build when they originally bought their house x number of years ago. They wonder why they were never informed by the group who pushed through the downzoning about how they were going to be affected personally. The focus of these efforts are placed so much on the developers that the masses of the locals end up blindly following the politically charged leaders.
Note to those leading the push for the down-zoning in Sunset Park: Make sure EVERYBODY knows what the down-zoning means for them. Not just that it will stop the high-rises from being built, but that there will be limitations placed on their own properties or that their buildings may be considered over-built.
Not surprisingly the residents of a hood do not wish to see any new developments – hardly insightful. However I do like this new feature. How about asking people something more specific?
Great to hear what people on the street think – interesting juxtaposition to the blogosphere