Rendering of the promised 28 acre Bushwick Inlet Park.
A couple of weeks ago we reported a war was brewing at the former CitiStorage site, and while the flames have died down, the heat is on to reclaim our parkland. So Greenpointers got your skewers sharpened yet? If not, you better arm yourselves because it’s roasting time and you’re not going to want miss this.
Our good Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park have declared March 12th as the day we demand the city makes good on its promises to deliver our park according the 2005 Waterfront Rezoning. Some of you maybe thinking–why should we care if the City reneges? The answer doesn’t get more simple than this: If we don’t go to City Hall with our pitchforks and starting screaming like hell, we will be looking at another luxury tower in a only a few short years. Don’t want your promised park hijacked by another bloated developer with dollar signs in his eyes? Yeah, me either.
You see this battle isn’t just about a park or another tower, this is about a promise the City has NO intention of keeping. If there was ever a time to get really pissed, this is it. Continue reading →
Well I hate to say I told you so, but even as CitiStorage still burns, the 11 acre lot could be sold to private developers–as soon as tomorrow, warns City Councilman Steve Levin. Many of you may recall from last week’s post, the future of the CitiStorage site was on shaky ground, but I doubt any of us would imagine losing our parkland so soon.
According to the FDNY, the site is still under investigation and investigators have yet to access the origin of the fire due to hazardous conditions. For the unforseeable future, we won’t know if there was foul play that sent CitiStorage up in smoke, but we do know the land is up for grabs, and perhaps to the highest bidder.
So while I don my silk turban and gaze once again into my crystal ball to predict what other crazy conspiracy theories might come true–like arson charges and measly insurance payouts–I am here to warn you: A war is afoot to reclaim CitiStorage as parkland and it’s time we start sharpening our skewers.
The South Williamsburg neighborhood group El Puente is hosting a CRITICAL CALL TO ACTION tonight and everyone from Williamsburg and Greenpoint should be there. Continue reading →
Melanie Myers Land Use Attorney for Greenpoint Landing Associates
On Thursday June, 27th, 2013 GWAPP and NAGG organized a public meeting in response to the public meeting at McCarren Park that took place on May 5th, in which residents were shocked and offended by presentations made by representatives of Greenpoint Landing and 77 Commercial St and unclear on the ULURP process.
Dewey Thompson of GWAPP began the meeting last Thursday by explaining that we were not there to discuss the 2005 Rezoning of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg Waterfront, which allows for the building of 30-40 story towers on the waterfront at the soon to be Greenpoint Landing – an “enormous development,” that will “change the landscape in every way.”
Despite this, concerns about the 2005 rezoning where on the minds of residents.
Instead the meeting was to discuss what is “as of right,” meaning what can be built based on the current zoning and how we can articulate what we want in the ULURP process as a “coherent voice,” with respect to the 77 Commercial St and Greenpoint Landing projects.
Currently both projects are in the “pre-ULURP” phase. The first public hearing held by Community Board 1 will be on August 13th, 2013 at 6:30pm at Automotive HS (50 Bedford Ave). Continue reading →
