City Council Approves Take Over Of Gowanus Station Building

GOWANUS, NY — The City Council approved a plan to use eminent domain to take over the plot of land the Gowanus Station sits on as part of the toxic waterway's cleanup. Officials previously said they would tear down the building to make way for tanks to collect sewage runoff.

The council nearly unanimously voted to in favor of the Department of Environmental Protection's plan to seize the lots at 242 and 270 Nevins St. along with the Gowanus Station at 234 Butler St. at their Wednesday meeting, city records show. The DEP needs the land to build the Combined Sewer Overflow tanks, which can collect runoff during heavy rain.

"There are other solutions to this CSO, this is not the way to go," said Linda Mariano, founder of the Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus. "We’re getting slapped in the face by city and state."

Only Councilman Kalman Yeger, who represents neighborhoods including Kensington and Midwood, voted against the proposal. Councilman Brad Lander, whose district the canal is in, was absent for the vote, city records show.

The DPA's proposal to use eminent domain to take over the lots still needs to be approved by Mayor Bill de Blasio before it's finalized.

Officials announced plans in November to bulldoze the more than 100-year-old Gowanus Station and build the eight-gallon tanks in its place. A group of residents and preservationists started a push to save the building, arguing the spot is important to the neighborhood's character.

"There really only is one place where the name Gowanus appears in a significant way," Brad Vogel, a resident fighting to save the building, previously told Patch. "It's not just that it has the name. It's the whole building on the corner is, in fact, giving the sense of place."

Locals called on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the spot but the agency ruled in December that it wasn't worth preserving because it has a "plain utilitarian" exterior and "has been highly altered."

Residents recently held a candlelight vigil outside the building to call on the federal government, which is overseeing the cleanup and could still save the spot, to step in and save it from the wrecking ball.

"We just pray that the [Environmental Protection Agency] will do the right thing by saving the building," said Mariano.

Image: Brad Vogel