Reinventing America's Cities

Times architectural critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has a good piece up on the importance of planning and a strong government role in modern day urban renaissance.

The problem in America is not a lack of ideas. It is a tendency to equate any large-scale government construction project, no matter how thoughtful, with the most brutal urban renewal tactics of the 1950s. One result has been that pioneering projects that skillfully blend basic infrastructure with broader urban needs like housing and park space are usually killed in their infancy. Another is that we now have an archaic and grotesquely wasteful federal system in which upkeep for roads, subways, housing, public parkland and our water supply are all handled separately.

With money now available to invest again in such basic needs, I’d like to look at four cities representing a range of urban challenges and some of the plans available to address them. Though none of the plans are ideal as they stand today (and some of them represent only the germ of an idea), evaluated and addressed together as part of a coordinated effort, they could begin to form a blueprint for making our cities more efficient, sustainable and livable.

The parts on the Bronx and Buffalo make for particularly good reading. The Pratt plan for eliminating the Sheridan Expressway and reopening the South Bronx waterfront is a stroke of genius. And when it comes to Buffalo, a high speed rail connector that ties Buffalo to NYC and other cities in the region (both in the US and Canada) would be a major boon.



Image above of Northeast High Speed Rail Network taken from The Transport Politic.

Vapor Intrusion Law: Food for Thought on Gowanus Residential Development

The Chair of CB6 was thoughtful enough to share this article from the New York Law Journal with the Community Board.

This is something to think long and hard about when contemplating the Gowanus rezoning and the appropriateness of concentrated residential development on these contaminated sites. An excerpt:

Vapor intrusion is a potentially harmful condition in which volatile chemicals in soil and groundwater emit fumes that enter buildings; such chemicals are often present at old industrial properties, or where a former industrial property has been redeveloped for commercial or residential use.

In the past, many state environmental regulators, including the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), had not included vapor intrusion as a consideration when granting closure for cleanup of contaminated properties because the general thought was that chemicals could stay in the ground under a building, as the foundation was a barrier preventing contact with those chemicals.

More recent evidence has shown this is not always the case, as some chemicals can penetrate foundations at levels that raise health and safety concerns for the occupants. However, NYSDEC and other state regulatory agencies granted hundreds of site closures without always accounting for the possibility of vapor intrusion exposures.

Over the past several years, NYSDEC and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have been investigating the vapor intrusion issue, including reopening "closed" remediation cases and setting new standards for human exposure. Other states (e.g., California, New Jersey) are taking similar steps with respect to vapor intrusion.

Thus the concept of the new law clearly is a good one. However, NYSDEC, which is largely responsible for enforcement of the Tenant Notification Law, has to date offered no formal interpretive guidance on the applicability of the law or how it will be enforced. As discussed further below, there are numerous vague and undefined terms and ambiguous provisions in the statute that have created confusion and challenges for the regulated community members and their advisors.

The whole article is worth reading for those that don't mind getting into the weeds of a legal discussion.

Toll Brothers City Council Hearing Tomorrow!

To the surprise and consternation of many, City Planning broke out the rubber stamp for the Toll Brothers requested re-zoning of their parcel on the Gowanus Canal. Part of the surprise is that City Planning approved Toll's plans on February 17th . . . while the first inkling members of the community got was from Pardon Me For Asking on February 28th. One more indignity in a process that has been flawed from the beginning.

The Toll Brothers site is being re-zoned, by itself, ahead of the broader Gowanus re-zoning that is currently being studied. Why?

One of the biggest selling points that Toll used in seeking approval for this re-zoning was the promise of affordable housing. It turns out that the affordable housing was a chimera; when CB6 went back to condition their (unfortunate) approval of Toll's plans to condition it upon required inclusion of affordable housing, Toll cried foul.

So now we have a major change of zoning for a parcel that was considered outside of the zoning process for the rest of the Gowanus region, which if approved will have zero requirements for affordable units.

A number of area residents will be at the City Council Zoning Committee Hearing tomorrow to urge the council to vote no to on this one-sided rezoning. Please join us if you can:
Public hearing on the Toll Brothers proposal located at 363-365
Bond Street
Where: City Hall, Committee Room (R to City Hall or A to Chambers St.)
When: March 4, 2009 9:30am
What: http://www.tollbrothersgowanus.com/projectDescription.shtml

If you are unable to attend in person please send written testimony to
avella@council.nyc.ny.us and Tgray@council.nyc.gov.

Additional Information about the Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee
(http://council.nyc.gov/html/committees/zoning.shtml)

Gowanus Public Place/Mixed Use at 5th and Smith

So long, cement plant, hello affordable housing. (Affordable housing always seems to find it's way to toxic waste sites and flood plains, somehow.) Here's the press release from NYC:

Located at the southeast corner of 5th and Smith Streets and bounded to the east by the Gowanus Canal. The development’s affordable component will consist of at least 400 rental and/or cooperative units located above the community and commercial spaces of which a significant portion will be set aside for senior citizen housing. Twenty percent of the total residential units must be affordable to households of four earning up to $56,700 or up to $39,700 for a single household. A further thirty percent of the residential units must be affordable to households of four earning up to $92,170 or up to $64,480 for a single household. And one hundred percent of the senior housing must be affordable to seniors making no more than $34,020 for a couple or $29,760 for a single senior.

The development must include a community facility component that will add to and enhance the current inventory of community and cultural uses and spaces available in the neighborhood. Preference will be given to projects that include a boathouse, youth/teen center, community space, or artist studios and/or galleries.

The development must also incorporate a significant amount of landscaped open space. Open space must be located adjacent to the Gowanus Canal and should be designed to allow for and encourage public use. In addition, the project is subject to HPD’s New Construction Sustainability Requirements, which mandate design practices and materials that ensure healthy indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of environmentally preferable products.

Get cracking on your RFP response now!

I took a couple pictures of the existing site from the elevated tracks. I'll post one when I have a chance.