Gowanus Rezoning Petition Tug-Of-War Emerges

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — The Gowanus Canal's banks are turning into a sludge fest between "cynical NIMBYs" and "wealthy developers."

That's how pro- and anti-rezoning camps deem each other in two rival petitions over the Gowanus' neighborhood's future.

The "Save the Gowanus Rezoning!" petition popped up this week after a mass letter calling for a moratorium on the perhaps-forever-pending land plan circulated.

The new letter by Open New York argues the Gowanus rezoning is a chance to build thousands of affordable housing units, integrate the neighborhood and further clean its polluted water and soil.

"Walking away from the Gowanus process now will confirm the worst suspicions about our City’s leadership: that for all its talk about racial, economic, and environmental justice, it has no interest in giving working New Yorkers a chance to live in affluent neighborhoods," the letter and petition states.

The two letters went out to an assortment of local officials, including city Council Member Brad Lander and Community Board 6.

"There continues to be great interest in the future of Gowanus from all points of view judging from the correspondence I've received," said Michael Racioppo, CB6's district manager, in a statement. "I think it is time that the Department of City Planning fills us in on their current plans."

The Gowanus rezoning appeared poised to start this year after long discussions within the community. It would be part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's goal of creating more affordable housing across the city through neighborhood rezonings.

But the public process stalled amid the new coronavirus pandemic and local leaders worried aloud whether the rezoning can will be kicked beyond the end of de Blasio's term in 2021.

So be it, a group called Voice of Gowanus recently argued in a petition. Their letter argued, in part, that a mass exodus of New Yorkers amid the pandemic would make pursuing a rezoning "unjust" and "irresponsible" because it would favor "wealthy developers."

The Voice of Gowanus petition and stance drew the Open New York letter, which refuted the accusations.

"After years of planning and input from thousands of residents, recent reports suggest that our City leaders may let the Gowanus Rezoning process fall apart," the Open New York letter states. "And now cynical NIMBYs who have always opposed adding residents to the neighborhood are making the ridiculous claim that the City should abandon efforts to add new housing because of COVID-19."

The city will remain in a housing crisis after the pandemic, the letter argues. It should address the problem rather than continuing decades of inaction on housing and addressing segregation, it states.