Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


 

The City Council meeting for the controversial Dock St Dumbo project brought project supporters and opponents to the hearing. While we were not able to attend the lengthy five hour hearing, media staff from Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Paper, and Brooklyn Heights Blog attended and reported in. BHB reporter Sarah Portlock noted “During the testimony of SCA counsel Ross Holden, Councilman Eric Gioa of Queens brought up the FOIL request released by Councilman David Yassky, which revealed an email between SCA officials that casts doubt on their seriousness of looking at other possible school sites within District 13.”

Reporter Ben Muessig of The Brooklyn Paper described the middle school issue as an “attack” on SCA Vice President Ross Holden over a Dec 8 email sent from Lorraine Grillo Lorraine Grillo to Kenrick Ou that “seems to indicate that the agency was only humoring Dock Street opponent Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights) when the politician suggested an alternate site for a public school at 205 Water St…But when asked how much money the city would save by taking a floor in the Walentases’ pre-built “core and shell” on Dock Street, Holden was unable to give an exact figure.”

Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter Linda Collins also writes that equal attention was drawn by the school as whether the development would detract from the Brooklyn Bridge views. Council member Eric Gioia requested further documentation that contextualizes other documents that puts the SCAs internal documents that seems to indicate favoritism for the Walentas project. “When I look at these e-mails, I think this is not how government is supposed to work,” said Gioia, calling them “the most disturbing he has ever seen.”

If any readers were able to attend, please comment below and tell us your take on the meeting. The land use committee is expected to vote on the proposal within the next two weeks. It then goes to the full City Council for a vote on June 10th.

{Dock Street Drama, Brooklyn Heights Blog}
{Council panel troubled by Dock Street project, Brooklyn Paper}
{Proposed DUMBO Middle School Dominates Public Hearing, Brooklyn Daily Eagle}
{DUMBO Tower Reaches Final Hurdle, NY1}

  • No2Walentas2Trees
    My take? Well the school supporters are being taken for the same ride those who believe in honest government are. It's very sad.
  • davoyager
    My take? This whole email flap is just the latest smoke screen thrown up by the increasingly desperate condo owners and their allies who have been steamrolling the opposition to this perfectly reasonable project. Of course the SCA wasn't interested in other sites. They told us last year there was no money to build, rent, or buy a school for the foreseeable future. The only reason they were at long last going to give us a school was because TT was giving this gift worth an estimated $43 million. No other site even remotely equaled that gift. If Yassky was serious about helping the children of the 33rd he would grab this gift with both hands instead of kowtowing to his rich friends and campaign contributors over at 30 main and 70 washington.
  • wippersnapper
    Dude.
  • Publius
    I love Carlos and DuhVoyager's latest "on message" claim: That the 12,000+ people who have signed their opposition to the project, as well as all the local neighborhood organizations against the project, as well as the "celebrities" against the project have all been placed under a dreadful spell by certain greedy owners of 70 Washington who might lose their views. It must be witchcraft! Black magic! VooDoo! Manipulations and string pulling! If only the public knew the truth!

    The latest desparate and cynical move in Jeb's highly orchestrated PR campaign. Glad to see you got the campaign email, DuhVoyager. You can just copy and paste the latest message from Two Trees.
  • wippersnapper
    Thanks,
    "the 12,000+ people who have signed their opposition to the project, as well as all the local neighborhood organizations against the project, as well as the “celebrities” against the project have all been placed under a dreadful spell by certain greedy owners of 70 Washington who might lose their views."
    Opps sorry. You work for the other guy. Hope you don't mind. Just that what u said was so true...
  • Dumbo Res...
    Most of these posts sound as if they were written by Two Trees employees...

    There is NOTHING good about this project both for the Brooklyn Bridge or for a Middle school (as Dumbo maybe has 8 kids in that age group)...

    This project should NOT go forward. It will destroy the view of the bridge from every angle and a Middle school will bring traffic on school days, and completely harm the parks.

    P.S. I do not live at 70 Washington.
  • davoyager
    You may not believe me but I've hardly ever spoken to TT employees or associates and I only vaguely know who they are. Just like I vaguely know who is most active in the organized opposition to this project, the petition wavers,etc. I have deliberately kept my distance because I was taken with the idea not of a school, but of this school to which I gave a name to honor a great unsung hero. I feel this is the school we need now and I think we can do a lot of good here.
    My deal wasn't the building but compared to the really big and god awful stuff that was being built all over NY and in this neighborhood, or was planned, this project seems modest and has elements included for the public good.
    I'm entitled to my opinion and there is not one person among you who has walked this magnificent bridge more than me. There was a time years ago when I had my business here in Bklyn and kept my banks in Manhattan to give my self the excuse to spend a couple of hours on the 2 way trip a couple of times a week or so. I've studied this project and have concluded the only views changed are private views and those people are entitled to their opposition but should be honest about their financial and esthetic stake.
    In addition I don't think we are in the business of protecting views from an national landmark. That's kind of a slippery slope don't you think? This is the first time I've ever heard that argument used and there is stuff being built around national landmarks all the time. We could have a real problem here in NY not to mention D.C. and Mount Rushmore. Now we can't build anything the dead presidents might see. Might be a good idea, who knows.
    Yes traffic is a problem. All over NY traffic is a problem. In my personal opinion there should be pedestrian malls all over including the quiet side streets in Dumbo during certain hours strictly enforced. I think big trucks should be banned from the local residential streets except by special permit at certain hours. I think automotive traffic all over this city should be far more limited and controlled to encourage people to walk, ride bikes. mopeds, rickshaws and dare I say it horse drawn. For my part I never even owned a car until I was around 50.

    You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one.
  • dumbostreets
    dv:

    "there is not one person among you who has walked this magnificent bridge more than me"

    I walk the bridge *everyday*, twice a day, to and from work. I oppose Dock Street because, as I walk over the bridge, I think how close it will come to the walkway... It'll be so close you will be able to see clearly inside of the apartments. It's a terrible design.

    "I don’t think we are in the business of protecting views from an national landmark..."

    Part of what makes a great city great is exactly this kind of thinking. The broad boulevards in Paris, for example, with the sweeping views from plaza to plaza connect some of the world's greatest monuments. The Brooklyn Bridge is our own Eiffel Tower... it is worth more to us unmolested than hundred developments... economically, culturally, historically, etc.

    The fact that you say something like that is an indication of how little you know about urban planning / design...
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