The NYC DCP should heed the concerns of the Brooklyn Community Board 6 Land Use Committee, NYC Councilmember Shahana Hanif, and many local residents and businesses and DISAPPROVE the current application of the Gatto Family trust to rezone 9th Street between 2nd-3rd Avenues in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
If approved, the 9th Street rezoning would:
- Force out long-time residents and replace current housing units with apartments at MUCH HIGHER rents.
- Threaten local businesses and jobs, including manufacturing, artists, and office spaces.
- Contribute to environmental problems, like overloaded sewers and street flooding.
If this proposal succeeds, we can expect more proposals on other blocks of Gowanus, displacing more residents and businesses, making our neighborhood even more vulnerable in the next major storm. The City spent decades creating a comprehensive plan for the neighborhood – and, this proposal is just the beginning of real estate developers’ efforts to chip away at that plan to make lots of money.
Why is this important?
The real estate developers are a powerful force in NYC, but the people of Brooklyn don't back down in the face of a threat to our communities.
How it will be delivered
We will share the signatures to this petition with the NYC Department of City Planning during their public review process. We will also share with Councilmember Hanif, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and other local elected officials, to show them that the community is united in having a voice in the future in Gowanus.
