Saving Greenpoint from Over-Development, One Plan at a Time

When walking through Greenpoint and Williamsburg, one can usually see large portions of the sky over the low-rise row houses that line the neighborhood’s streets. However, in the last decade, major signs of the construction boom that hit New York City loom large as new tall buildings pop up on residential streets.

But preservationists and fans of the neighborhood’s two-to-four-story buildings can relax. New local zoning legislation designed to protect the existing low-scale appearance of buildings in Greenpoint and Williamsburg—and to increase affordable housing is in process—may be implemented as soon as the upcoming September.

The rezoning will establish height limits, for the first time in 48 years, and provide construction guidelines for buildings to preserve the quaint character of 175 blocks bounded by Clay Street in the North, Scholes and Maujer Streets in the South, the waterfront—which was rezoned in 2005—in the West and manufacturing zones in the East. New buildings will be required to line up with the adjacent buildings so that they will blend harmoniously with the rest of the street.

City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden, who has been working closely with CB1 on drafting the proposal, said that the rezoning would be a positive step toward preserving the rapidly gentrifying area.

“This initiative will ensure that out-of-scale development will no longer threaten the unique character of these extraordinarily beautiful neighborhoods,” said Burden.

The proposal also provides an inclusionary housing amendment designed to entice developers to offer permanent affordable housing in some areas by allowing buildings with affordable units for sale to build a little more—in width, not height—than ones that do not. The current legislation only stipulates for affordable rental units.

Furthermore, new commercial guidelines will be adopted in the new legislation to allow for a wider range of retail and service establishments and remove commercial zoning from residential properties, so that businesses do not encroach into residential sectors.

Encouraged by previous Brooklyn rezoning successes and the realization of the 2005 rezoning of the waterfront that created more open space and affordable housing, CB1 and local elected officials councilmembers Diana Reyna and David Yassky, have been working with the New York City’s Department of City Planning for about 2 ½ years to draft the proposal. Now the approval process is underway. CB1 has until May 11th to review the proposal that was presented by the Department of City Planning at last week’s CB1 meeting. It will then be up for the consideration of the Borough president, Marty Markowitz. He has about a month to deliberate over the issue, which will next go back to the Department of City Planning. After two months of debating and amending, the proposal will go to the City Council for a final decision.

“This is an important step towards preserving the character of our community while continuing the development that, if done right, should reinvigorate our neighborhoods,” said Yassky. “We must do everything within our power to both spur economic development and safeguard the qualities that make Brooklyn’s neighborhoods dynamic and unique.”

CB1’s ULURP Committee Chair Ward Dennis said that the rezoning proposal is very beneficial for the neighborhood, not only aesthetically, but also in terms of density control.

“The rezoning proposes a smarter way to grow the community,” said Dennis. “This will pair back the density to what we as a neighborhood can support.”