The Patch Interview: Craig Hammerman of CB6 Talks Citi Bike, the BQX, and His District's Development

BROOKLYN, NY — Craig Hammerman has served as district manager of Community Board 6 for 23 years, after being promoted to the job when he was 24 years old.

Since then, the borders of CB6 — which represents about 110,000 residents living in 40,000 homes inside Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia Waterfront, Red Hook and Gowanus — haven't changed. (That, Hammerman told Patch, is a problem, considering that the Barclays Center remains split between CB6 and Community Board 2.)

But many changes have taken place within those lines. The Pacific Park development (formerly Atlantic Yards) represents one of the biggest, Hammerman said. In terms of mega-projects, it will be rivaled by the end result of the redevelopment of the former Long Island College Hospital (LICH), which Hammerman said "will significantly add to the population and density of Cobble Hill in a way nobody ever imagined."

Gowanus has also seem significant changes, the district manager continued.

"Before 1997, nobody would go near the Gowanus Canal, because you couldn't," he said, adding that the stench in the summer was "physically taxing" and would "knock you over." As environmental remediation efforts began, developers started "salivating over cheap land," while artists, teachers and members of the maker economy moved in as well.

Hammerman stressed the need to protect a "manufacturing core in New York City," adding that recent administrations undervalued that part of the economy.

And he dismissed the private redevelopment plans that are often floated for communities like Red Hook, such as a recent pitch by Los Angeles-based AECOM. Those designs, he said, "assume that Red Hook is a blank slate, which is either ignorant or arrogant." Asked to comment on AECOM's assertions that displacement wouldn't need to occur in the face of significant private-sector development, Hammerman said he thought it was "insulting to suggest that [Red Hook residents] are that stupid."

Among the other topics Patch touched on with the district manager:

The Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX): Hammerman said the community and CB6 have long expressed interest in an area light rail system, but that he had three outstanding questions: how will its construction cost be paid for, how will enough money be raised to run the BQX, and what route will it take?

The route will determine whether or not the train would serve the economies of waterfront communities, connecting local people to jobs and bringing customers to community businesses, he said.

Hammerman said he wanted to see analysis of the BQX's expected impact on adjacent real estate prices. Additionally, transit systems typically can't fund themselves, he continued, and suggested it would be tough to find money for the train in the MTA's budget.

Staffers from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is analyzing the BQX's feasibility, will update CB6 on their progress in November, Hammerman said, adding that he didn't know when the EDC's study of the plan would be complete.

Citi Bike's expansion: Hammerman said that "the support for Citi Bike is overwhelming" in CB6, adding that the location of new bike docks was the product of a "robust, transparent planning process." Regarding those who have recently expressed anger at the new stations, Hammerman said that "not everyone is familiar with the community board and the work that we do."

That said, he stressed that when CB6 gave its final approval for Citi Bike's latest expansion, it reserved the right to revisit the wisdom of the new docking stations. Hammerman said that community members can inform CB6 of problematic stations, and that he plans on conducting an October hearing on the issue. He will then tour a list of docks with officials from the Department of Transportation, and produce a report listing which changes, if any, the DOT is willing to make.

Looking forward: Hammerman said CB6 is waiting for movement by Fortis Property Group regarding the LICH site, and will stay actively involved with the next stages of the Bridging Gowanus community planning process.

The board is currently formulating this year's list of budget and district priorities, and will be discussing the matter at a public hearing in October, the best place for community members to comment and make suggestions.

And the district manager encouraged everyone to communicate as much as possible with the board, so that it can better advocate for local issues. Updates on CB6's work are provided consistently on Twitter, and Hammerman urged locals to sign up for the CB6 electronic newsletter. (The board doesn't have a big enough budget to mail newsletters to every house, he said.)

City officials know CB6 speaks for a broad number of people, he said, which is why they take it seriously.

Pictured at top: Craig Hammerman. Photo by John V. Santore