The Silence is Deafening (In Defense of the BSA)

Numerous neighborhood blogs and advocates have bellowed far and wide about the supposed developer-friendly bias of the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (from Brownstoner today: "a group that historically has bent over back to accommodate developers."). What they fail to note in their complaints, however, is the fact that the BSA is legally bound to reach their decisions based on the laws of New York City, specifically the Zoning Resolution (a ridiculously complex document if there ever were one). And, those laws must recognize the United States' laws about private property rights, which tend to lean heavily toward property owners (in these cases, developers).

Given the uproar that we saw regarding BSA decisions such as 360 Smith Street and the Williamsburg "Finger" building, the silence about the BSA's recent decision to NOT grant extra townhouses to 580 Carroll Street is deafening. In what is being termed as a "death blow" to the project, the BSA basically told the developers that they should have done more due diligence before their construction, which would have made their claimed "unforeseen circumstances" clear. The BSA should be applauded for seeing through this argument, but alas, there was scant coverage of the decision, sharing a post at Curbed:

"The BSA took some time to think about it, but came back earlier this week with another unanimous no for the developers. And it sounds like this one might be final."

Image from NYC.gov

Community Board 6 turns down Charter School

We've already seen rough talk about the realities in Gowanus, and how it is not appropriate for school siting. Well, sounds as if Community Board 6 still agrees with their previous comments. According to Courier-Life, Summit Academy's application to be sited on Butler Street was recommended for denial.

"“This is outrageous,” said board member Debra Scotto, who voted against the special permit. “This is an absolutely horrible place to site a school — primarily because of the traffic, but also because there are prostitutes around the corner [from the site],” she said after the board’s March 10 meeting. “It’s abysmal down there.”

Despite the vote, Natasha Campbell, the school’s executive director, said Summit remains in “an exploratory phase, looking for a permanent home.”

Summit Academy is currently housed inside Public School 27, on Huntington Street in Red Hook. The charter school currently serves 92 sixth graders, and its population is expected to swell next year to 100 sixth graders and 100 seventh graders Campbell said.“We have a phenomenal relationship with PS 27, but the problem is that we are growing,” she added."

Although I sympathize with a fledgling school trying to make it, the fact that this is a charter school softens the blow. Also, let's not forget that the Community Board doesn't actually have any power!

New York City (and others!) Still Pissy about Superfund Designation

Wow. The City doesn't seem to know how to quit. While this trait probably served those in the Bloomberg administration well in private enterprise, it is a little embarrassing coming from the Mayor Office. In a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times, NYC Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway, it certainly sounds as if there is some spilled milk being cried over:

"We are as committed to that goal now as when we submitted our comprehensive plan last July, and we’ll work with the Environmental Protection Agency within the Superfund process to achieve it.

The E.P.A.’s timeline is now three years longer than what the city proposed, and the agency has acknowledged that our cleanup plan was as comprehensive as Superfund.

Our plan did not “rely on federal allocations,” but proposed the possibility of Congressional appropriations that we thought would incentivize responsible polluters to work with us voluntarily. We were right: one of the largest polluters committed to our plan without the need for a Superfund listing."

Following that, we hear from Bill Appell:

"The city committed to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to clean the canal to the E.P.A.’s own standards, but the city’s approach would have accomplished more than just remediation of the waterway.

The Superfund designation does not address the primary source of pollution in the Gowanus Canal: combined sewer overflows, which occur when storm sewers overflow during heavy rainfalls and combine with the sanitary sewers, pouring 300 million gallons of raw sewage into the canal every year."