The ULURP clock for the Coney Island rezoning proposal is ticking. The City certified the zoning proposal in January, and from May until later this month, the City Planning Commission is conducting its review of the proposal. The Commission is likely to vote on the project very soon, after which the proposal will go to the City Council who must vote on the plan by mid-August.

MAS testified last month at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing, and shortly after we submitted detailed recommendations for the future of Coney Island. MAS strongly supports the city’s goal of revitalizing Coney Island. We also strongly support the city’s efforts to acquire land to create a publicly-owned open-air amusement park, based on an extensive economic study by real estate advisory firm RCLCo commissioned by MAS that concluded that this was the best way to ensure amusements in perpetuity. Continue Reading>>

Far Rockaway, Queens consists of two square miles of barrier island just across the bay from JFK Airport and just west of the Nassau County line. Its population is diverse, including a large Orthodox Jewish community, and immigrants from Russia, Jamaica, Guyana, and Guatemala. While there are some upscale areas, particularly near the Long Island border, a large percentage of residents live in public or rent-regulated housing. The area has been hit hard recently by a double-whammy: a wave of foreclosures due to the ongoing mortgage crisis, and a nearly simultaneous wave of new, often luxury, development.

Jeanne DuPont was inspired to start the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (RWA) when she saw that much of that new development was proceeding with little regard for current residents. Continue Reading>>

The Department of City Planning is holding a hearing today about its proposal to rezone 25 blocks along the Gowanus Canal to allow for a mix of uses, including residential, commercial, retail, light industrial, community facility and artist spaces.

MAS believes that existing businesses in this thriving manufacturing district should be nurtured and safeguarded, and that the rezoning presents a tremendous opportunity to create space for new industries and jobs. We are concerned that, given the area’s industrial past and present, and the lack of adequate sewage and storm-water infrastructure, new residential development may not be the best solution for the Gowanus neighborhood. Read our full statement here.

The video above is also available as a podcast below, and through iTunes.

 

 Meet Gowanus Business Owners Potentially Threatened by Rezoning: Play Now | Play in Popup

For more information about MAS advocacy on Gowanus, click here.

As the recent economic slowdown gives us the opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate New York City’s planning processes, community-based plans can provide a framework for a future that works for all New Yorkers. The plans featured in this monthly column will provide examples of how inclusive planning processes work on the ground, and ideally will help inspire future community planning efforts.

Sunset Park 197-a Plan
Sunset Park encompasses a large stretch of Brooklyn’s East River waterfront, bordered by the Prospect Expressway to the north, Bay Ridge to the south, and the Gowanus Expressway to the east. The area has served as a maritime hub for over 100 years. The Bush Terminal was established there in 1895, and eventually grew to over 200 acres. Continue Reading>>

A regular new feature, the Community-Based Plan of the Month  highlights plans included in Planning for All New Yorkers: An Atlas of Community-Based Plans in New York City, an interactive map created by the Municipal Art Society and the Community-Based Planning Task Force. As the recent economic slowdown gives us the opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate New York City’s planning processes, community-based plans can provide a framework for growth that works for all New Yorkers. The plan featured here provides an example of how inclusive planning processes work on the ground, and ideally will help inspire future community planning efforts.

Stable-izing Brooklyn
When the Fort Hamilton Parkway interchange of the Prospect Expressway was completed in 1962 under the direction of Robert Moses, a small, eight-block section of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn was severed from its neighbors.  This quirky area was once home to a number of horse stables due to its proximity to Prospect Park, but now only one remains: Kensington Stables, located at East 8th Street and Caton Avenue.  Since Claremont Riding Academy near Central Park closed last year, Kensington Stables is among New York’s few remaining urban stables. Continue Reading>>

Livable Neighborhoods Program from MAS on Vimeo.

On Saturday May 10th the Municipal Art Society Planning Center will launch the second annual Livable Neighborhoods Program training at Hunter College. The Livable Neighborhoods Program, which first launched last May at Hunter College, was created to provide communities with the knowledge, tools, and training needed to transform local vision into effective plans. Continue Reading>>

The MAS Planning Center is holding a series of forums this spring on the future of community-based planning in New York City. The opening program is titled Elected Officials Respond to Communities That Plan for Themselves, and will be held on Monday, March 24. Click here for more details.

Thursday, January 24, 6:00 p.m., at the Brooklyn College Student Center

Participants will work to finalize the goals and priorities discussed at the last workshop. Refreshments and home work room for school-aged children will be available. If you live in Flatbush, join us! E-mail or call Sideya Sherman on 212-935-3960 to RSVP. More details.

Watch the New Movie

Click on the play icon below to watch a new MAS short movie describing the goals of Imagine Flatbush 2030 and featuring footage of the first of the project’s workshops.

Imagine Flatbush 2030 from MAS on Vimeo.

With more than nine million gross square feet of development, 17 new buildings, one of which would rise up to 620 feet, an 18,000-seat sports arena, and seven acres of new open space, the Forest City Ratner plan for the Atlantic Yards and surrounding areas would change northern Brooklyn forever. It is among the largest development proposals in the history of New York City, and the MAS has begun its review of the plan. Continue Reading>>

On a slender, 22-acre strip of land between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene, the developer Forest City Ratner is proposing one of the largest building projects in Brooklyn’s history. Known as Atlantic Yards, it proposes 16 new skyscrapers and an 18,000-seat sports arena — more than eight and a half million square feet of new development. (This article is followed by much more news and information about the Atlantic Yards proposal, including a link to a new website called BrooklynSpeaks.net.) Continue Reading>>