Gowanus Houses Community Center Should Be Reopened, Members Say

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — The community center at a Gowanus public housing development has been closed for too long, even though money has been set aside to fund it, residents are saying.

The Gowanus Houses Community Center has been closed for more than 10 years, and residents are demanding that be opened as soon as possible. A change.org petition has gathered over 600 signatures, and residents rallied with local elected officials Tuesday to draw attention to the issue.

As the neighborhood and surrounding area are the subject of intense discussion over rezoning and future development, long-time residents at the housing complex feel they're being left behind.

"The Gowanus Community Center has been closed for over a decade, depriving the residents of one of New York’s largest public housing developments a place to come together for artistic, educational, and vocational activities," the petition reads. "Before its closing, the center was a positive force in the neighborhood, providing engaging and productive programming."

In 2014, the center was awarded $475,000 in funding from City Councilman Steven Levin's office through participatory budgeting to make repairs and ultimately reopen it.

But residents say that the city's Department of Youth and Community Development haven't even contracted with anyone to do the work yet.

"It’s not just a NYCHA issue, it is a Gowanus neighborhood issue, and we are your neighbors," artist Imani Gayle Gillison said Tuesday outside the center, according to City Limits. "When we prosper, you prosper, when we are rich in culture and can share that culture, you are richer for our culture."

See the petition for more info on the closing. And check out this video that some residents of the houses made to draw attention to the community center:

Image via Youtube