How to Get Involved in Gowanus' Next Phase of Community Planning

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Now that the tire-removal and (starting next year) sludge-removal process is finally underway on the Gowanus Canal, it's a great time to make your voice heard on the future of the neighborhood.

The Department of City Planning (DCP) will host a public meeting Thursday, at which they'll introduce residents to the Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study — the city's latest effort to involve the public in deciding how Gowanus should develop from here.

The meeting will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 27, and will take place at P.S. 32, located at the intersection of Hoyt Street and Union Street.

DCP spokesman Joe Marvilli said a presentation on the study will be given at 7:15 p.m. For the rest of the evening, guests will be able to speak candidly with agency staffers about the work they've done — and are planning to do — in the neighborhood.

Materials will also be available in Spanish. A Spanish translator will be on hand as well.

The Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study comes on the heels the multi-year Bridging Gowanus effort, an initial community planning program that ran from 2013 to 2015 and laid down a list of priorities to inform future development.

According to the DCP, the current planning study will pick up where Bridging Gowanus left off. When it's completed, it will recommend ways the city can "foster a thriving neighborhood by reinforcing and encouraging a robust local economy anchored by a mix of uses and businesses, while creating opportunities for new housing with affordable housing in appropriate locations."

Among its specific goals, the city says it wants to:

• Support resiliency and sustainable development
• Increase available neighborhood amenities
• Make improvements to streetscaping and pedestrian safety
• Promote job creation in the arts and cultural sectors
• Develop affordable housing and protect existing tenants against displacement
• Improve the area's infrastructure and environmental quality

Marvilli said the DCP doesn't yet know when the planning study will be completed. Many more public hearings will take place after Thursday's, he said, but their dates and times haven't been locked down yet.

Have more questions about the Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study? Visit the project's website, where you can also sign up for email updates, email gowanus@planning.nyc.gov; or call the DCP at 718-780-8280.

Pictured at top: The Gowanus Canal, as viewed from the Union Street Bridge. Image via Google Maps