A few months ago in this column, I examined the community board’s recommendations regarding the Gowanus rezoning plan that allows real estate developers to build 30 story luxury condos in the formerly arts and industrial (and polluted) Gowanus neighborhood.
After the community board’s approval, the next step is the approval of the Borough President. We still actually have a borough president, despite the fact that he’s already acting like the mayor of the whole city.
Not that it matters all that much, because what Eric Adams says is advisory for now, the real power comes from Brad Lander, who has been shepherding the whole process since even before he became councilman, as head of the Fifth Avenue Committee.
However, it’s fun to point out the hypocrisies from our supposedly progressive Democratic legislators, whose elections are funded by conservative real estate capitalists. In this case, those who have poured billions of dollars into buying up blocks of Gowanus where they will place their lofty towers. One of the players being Jared Kushner.
The other day the Star-Revue received a press release from the BP. We are reproducing it below along with my comments in the bold italics.
BP ADAMS FORMALLY RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS TO ENSURE CRITICALLY-NEEDED FUNDING FOR TWO NYCHA DEVELOPMENTS AS PART OF GOWANUS REZONING
That’s the headline. He is saying that the reason we need luxury condos is to help public housing. Back in the 1930’s, regular housing was too expensive for the working poor. The money to build public housing came from government as a public service. According to the BP, erecting tall luxury condos are necessary in order to maintain those buildings.
Brooklyn, NY – Today, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams formally released recommendations on the proposed Gowanus rezoning as part of his Charter-mandated role in the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) that will secure the needed capital investments in the two New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments and ensure a better quality of life for residents of the developments.
OK – here we go… there is nothing here, in the opening paragraph, about the actual rezoning itself, which is objected to by many people that currently live in the are subject to the proposed rezoning.
The recommendations, part of a broader vision for the future of the Gowanus community amid a proposed City rezoning, underscore local leaders’ commitment to prioritizing the needs of public housing residents. It also provides a model for future rezonings throughout the City that include public housing developments with significant capital needs. As Congress continues to debate the appropriate level of federal investment in public housing, Borough President Adams believes it is critical for the City to find creative ways to meet New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA’s) capital needs. His recommendations, developed in consultation with local tenant leaders, center around the needs of public housing residents, who have been subject to decades of disinvestment, and they seek to ensure those residents have a seat at the table when it comes to determining the future of their community.
These recommendations were actually created by the Fifth Avenue Committee-one of the real estate developers that will profit from the rezoning-in partnership with Councilman Lander, who likes to be seen as a progressive champion for social justice.
“As we look to re-envision the Gowanus community, public housing residents cannot be left out of the equation. For too long, we have neglected people living in NYCHA, forcing them to live in substandard conditions. By leveraging public and private investment in the area, we can finally fulfill the City’s commitments to our NYCHA residents and ensure they have a real voice. I thank Council Member Brad Lander, the tenant association presidents, and all the community advocates for making their voices heard in this process,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
This is wrong. The City’s commitments to public housing have no legal connection to rezonings that will bring tall luxury condo buildings to a low-rise, industrial area. The City is responsible for all NYCHA projects equally, regardless of anything else.
In his recommendations, Borough President Adams stressed the need for the City to meet its commitments to fully fund the capital needs for Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens. He calls for the following steps in his Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) recommendation to secure these investments:
Here is my biggest problem with this scheme. Adams and Lander are setting up a situation in which they divide and conquer NYCHA. By allowing just some developments to become fully funded without sharing the spoils with the 30 other developments, they are dividing and conquering—creating a precedent for connecting gentrification to public housing. The incentive for every other public housing project throughout the city will now be to demand luxury housing in their neighborhoods in order the receive funding. This is instead of the City demanding money from the State and Federal governments to fully fund all NYCHA developments.
Dedicating five-year upfront capital funding for Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens, based on NYCHA physical needs assessments, estimated at $274 million and ongoing consultation with the tenants of both developments; and ensuring that the resulting Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens capital projects prioritize NYCHA tenants and low-income residents.
If the City cannot commit to the level of funding needed for capital improvements at the two developments, Borough President Adams recommends capping allowable maximum heights and floor-area-ratio (FAR) for certain areas the City is seeking to upzone, unless the developers of buildings that fall within those areas are willing to purchase development rights from NYCHA. By recommending that increased allowable heights and FAR should be contingent on the purchase of such rights, Borough President Adams is signaling his commitment to ensuring NYCHA gets the capital resources it needs, whether from the public sector, private sector, or a combination of the two.
If the Mafia or the private sector would do this, it would be called blackmail or protection money.
“We believe what we are doing here in Gowanus can serve as a model for future rezoning processes throughout the City, particularly those that are expected to attract a significant amount of private investment,” said Borough President Adams. “Every rezoning must take into account the needs of long-time residents, and deliver real results for those with the greatest need. These recommendations lay out a path for achieving that.”
There it is – the incentive to allow real estate developers to fully build out the city with luxury condo skyscrapers. The sky will only be for the penthouse dwellers.
Further, Borough President Adams recommends that public housing residents in Gowanus be given priority for housing in new affordable housing developments in the area, including Gowanus Green, a 100 percent affordable site along the Gowanus Canal…
That makes no sense – why spend money to fix up apartment buildings only to incentive people from leaving them?
The Gowanus rezoning is expected to foster greater diversity in the area. The neighborhood is currently one of only 10 districts in the City with more than 60% white residents. A recent report estimates that 20% to 25% of the new lottery apartments under the rezoning would be rented by Black households, and 25% to 37% of them will be rented by Latino households.
That recent report, used by Adams to justify his half-baked ideas, was commissioned by Brad Lander and created by Lance Freeman, a Columbia University professor who believes that gentrification is a wonderful thing. Last year, in a NY Daily News Op-Ed, he wrote: “If working-class communities are asked to be open to new development, this should be a team effort, with wealth and privilege not allowing some communities to exempt themselves. Upzonings in wealthier neighborhoods, such as that proposed for SoHo send the right message.”
The right message should be that government needs to provide decent housing in their public housing using progressive taxation, not by selling out to rich developers.
