Twenty years ago, during the Bloomberg administration, the New York City Council reached a decision—with support of the mayor—to rezone a huge tract of land by the Williamsburg/Greenpoint waterfront for residential use.
The land, spanning approximately 180 blocks, had for decades been devoted to industrial businesses and maritime use. Around the mid 20th century, these enterprises in the area declined dramatically—and were replaced with waste transfer stations and other environmentally challenging uses. Finally, the idea to…
“Revisiting the accidental playground”? Really? More like revisiting the last remnants of a once affordable and vibrant community – a community ruined by greedy developers who considered Greenpoint to be their personal playground. Change is inevitable, but change can either be cruel & callous, or compassionate & considerate, with a genuine concern for the community and its residents. Instead, they came to Greenpoint , looked around, and said: “We like this place you call home. It has potential. Now tear up your lives, your roots, your homes – and get out”, as they stoked a crisis of unaffordability and filled their coffers. It was the essence of the community destruction that Jane Jacobs once railed against. It’s an old story, with a land grab by wealthy colonists & haughty invaders, going back as far as the Lenape native inhabitants of Greenpoint.
I absolutely hear you; and Dewey’s comment is right on, too. But part of the point of this tour, and this article, was to remind people that promises were made, exchages offered, etc.—and that it’s important to keep pushing for their fulfillment. We do have legal grounds. Deals were made. I am not of the mind that they are unenforceable.
Has there been a tremendous amount of greed involved? Yes. Bad faith? Yes, that too. But we have to answer it with the power of community. I believe that can happen and in some ways already is.
At the end of the tour, we were discussing particularly the “affordable housing” issue. I wondered why this area can’t have at least one, if not several, buildings like the Westbeth in Manhattan: income-based housing specifically for people in the arts. Ditto for people in public-service jobs: teachers, EMS, etc. Easily achieved? Probably not. But possible? Yes.
The issue isn’t a lack of available apartments — there are plenty in Greenpoint. Many sitting empty. The real problem is that landlords can charge whatever they want, and long term residents are priced out.
Developers keep building new units that rent for $5,000 a month for a one-bedroom. Seriously, it’s outrageous. This isn’t about a lack of housing — it’s about unchecked greed. That’s what needs to be addressed. What we need to do as a community is fight back against this. GTFO of here with this, building of affordable housing income based housing, all apartments need to be made affordable, the new and the existing! We shouldn’t be accepting $5,000 one-bedrooms as the new normal. That’s not a market adjustment — it’s exploitation. The normalization of greed is embedded in articles like this, whether intentionally or not. I completely understand the frustration expressed by the commenter above — it’s real and valid.
Your comments are all spot on. I used to live on the Guernsey cul de sac (my ex landlord still lives there) in 1990-1993. I moved back to this neighborhood (this time, the north point, where you wouldn’t go back then! Now filled with high rises filled with yes, $5K/mo. apartments) end of 2020, on Manhattan and Eagle. Not only is the old neighborhood mostly gone, but in its place is all this bougie crap that attracts nothing but wealthy transients sent here by their co. for a few years, and then they move out. They don’t even come onto Manhattan Ave, they stay on the East River in their little bubble, and commute into Manhattan in their car, parked in the extremely expensive garage under their building (check out the public parking rates LOL Why parking is also now damn near impossible in this neighborhood. Disclaimer: I would NEVER own a car, living here.). Living in those high rises is like a luxury hotel – yes, I took a tour of a few of them. The amenities are amazing, the units themselves suck, esp for the price. And, recent articles in local news expose the cracks of that slap dash construction being used to put them up. I predict in 5-10 years that will all be NYCHA housing – why? Because the greedy folks who built those monstrosities will not be able to keep those buildings filled with tenants any longer, and the whole area will decline as a result. I’m not planning on being back here for much longer – almost five years is enough. Got an eyeful, don’t like what I’m seeing. This community board likes to claim they’ve added “more affordable housing to the area than any other borough!” as part of their re election campaign. Read my previous comments on same, and then think about what kind of housing they’ve enabled here. And then vote accordingly next election … or, be OK with what this area has turned into.
Good article! The fact that the City has yet, more than twenty years after the massive waterfront rezoning, delivered on the benefits promised to the community is appalling. Even more crazy is that a developer (Gotham) is applying to UP-zone the current MTA Mobile Truck Wash facility (40 Quay St.) on the shore of the extraordinary Bushwick Inlet – in other words, get to build even higher/bigger than the oppressive zoning already allows and do it on PUBLIC LAND! Hard NO.
Absolutely, Dewey! Hard no.
Promises mean something; business agreements mean something. As a community, we have to stand strong for the agreements that were made; and the developers need to understand that this will not be a “grab all you can” kind of situation for them. We won’t allow it to be.
Great report Pamela. This ‘Jane’s Walk’ along the Greenpoint waterfront highlights the promises made and broken over the past twenty years. We now have one last chance to deliver a proper park to Greenpoint on the Bushwick Inlet site along Kent Avenue, which is threatened by a pair of monstrous towers brokered by the MTA. If Jane Jacobs could tame Robert Moses, surely Greenpoint residents can stop the MTA and their partner, Gotham Developers. Don’t miss this last great opportunity in more than a century to put environmental green back in Greenpoint.