Gowanus Rezoning Scores City Planning Approval

Plans to rezone 82 blocks in Gowanus got approval from the City Planning Commission Wednesday and is now going to the city council for what could be final consideration.

The plan would allow for 8,500 new apartments to be built in the area, with 3,000 of them as designated affordable housing, The Real Deal reports. But support for the plan at the city council level will hinge on a deal to inject $132M for public housing in the area. Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin said they will back it if that money is provided.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, likely the next mayor, will get behind the plan, but only if the city will give some $274M toward improvements to New York City Housing Authority units over the next five years, TRD reports. While the rezoning was approved, the commission did still reject a plan for Continuum Co. to build a residential tower at 960 Franklin Ave. Community opposition to the rezoning stems back to concerns that it would allow for a major influx of luxury housing, displacing residents.

Community groups Voice of Gowanus and Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus had railed against the rezoning and filed a lawsuit claiming it was illegal to hold virtual public hearings about the proposed land use changes. In April, however, the state Supreme Court lifted a restraining order on the plans. 

Under new requirements for rezonings in New York City, the council released the city’s first-ever rezoning racial impact statement for the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan.

It found that as it is proposed now, the Gowanus rezoning’s housing plan, which would allow for thousands of affordable apartments to be built, is expected to curb housing segregation in the area. But the plan doesn't include much information on how it will address existing inequities within the neighborhood, the report found, and the new commercial space would likely bring in a disproportionate number of jobs typically held by White workers.