Halt Gowanus Rezoning After Coronavirus Exodus, Group Says

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Woefully out of step. Not the time to flood the market with a glut of luxury housing units. Unjust and financially irresponsible.

That's how a group called Voice of Gowanus described an on-again, off-again effort to rezone the Gowanus area in a letter sent to local politicians.

They called for a moratorium on the rezoning effort.

"In the wake of COVID-19, with both the city and state budgets in crisis, the economy in free fall, and as many as 20% of Americans having lost their jobs—including a disproportionate number of people of color— this plan is woefully out of step with what the city needs right now, or what it can afford," their letter states.

The Gowanus rezoning effort lines up with Mayor Bill de Blasio's goal of creating more affordable housing across the city. But rezonings in other neighborhoods have faltered or yielded results many locals found unsatisfactory, to say the least.

An assortment of aligned groups called the Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice in February made an effort to steer the city-led rezoning toward affordable housing and environmental goals.

But the city remained mum on when the anticipated rezoning would begin, or whether it would take those concerns into account. Recently, city Councilman Brad Lander — who has long pushed for a community-led rezoning — said the whole effort appears stalled, perhaps for years, amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Voice of Gowanus, in their letter, argued that "droves" of New Yorkers leaving the area because of coronavirus would make this a bad time to pursue a rezoning that could be a boon to luxury developers.

"In the wake of COVID-19, while the city, state, and Brooklyn residents are in a state of financial decline, the city is seeing an enormous number of residents fleeing the city, and massive numbers of citizens are out of work, subsidizing luxury towers built by wealthy developers is UNJUST and FINANCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE," the letter states.