June 5, 2018 - Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Marisa Lago and Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin today released Gowanus: A Framework for a Sustainable, Inclusive, Mixed-use Neighborhood. The Framework lays out goals and strategies that the community created to help transform the neighborhood into a resilient, sustainable and more affordable Gowanus for residents and businesses.

The Framework is the first major milestone toward adopting a neighborhood plan that includes public investments in housing, parks, schools and transportation.

“As we move to transform Gowanus into an eco-friendly community for New York families and businesses alike, we seek to preserve and create affordable housing, protect and grow jobs and businesses, and clean up parks and waterways. I congratulate the community and Council Members Lander and Levin for getting us this far. I look forward to rolling up our sleeves and building a prosperous future for this historic Brooklyn neighborhood,” said DCP Director Marisa Lago.

“Working together, we can shape a sustainable, inclusive, mixed-use future for Gowanus,” said Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin. “This framework points the way. Through extensive community planning, we have substantial consensus in many areas: Investments in sustainability, resiliency, floodproofing, transportation, and educational infrastructure. Creating affordable and mixed-income housing, and preserving and strengthening NYCHA. Strengthening the ‘Gowanus mix’ of manufacturing, artists and cultural organizations, creative businesses, historic buildings, and not-for-profits. Expanded public open space around the Canal. We are not naive: issues of growth and development in New York City are complex, and not everyone will agree. And we know there is much hard work still to come. But we believe this framework gets the balance right for thoughtful growth with truly shared benefits. We thank the Department of City Planning for convening a serious and thoughtful process, across hundreds of hours, that has included diverse voices, and we are especially grateful to all of the community residents who have participated. We look forward to continuing the conversation.”

The Framework will be discussed at an Open House on June 27. DCP and 16 other City agencies will be at the meeting at P.S. 32, 317 Hoyt Street, from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

The Framework is a product of more than 100 hours of neighborhood meetings and events. It seeks to support the community’s growing population and diversifying economy and solve challenges, including a pressing need for affordable housing, remediating industrial pollution and fighting climate change.

The full Framework is on DCP’s website. Stakeholders and visitors are also encouraged to post virtual sticky notes with their ideas and feedback at plangowanus.com, which is also accessible through DCP’s website.

Highlights of the Framework:

• Promoting a more resilient future, where buildings and infrastructure are designed to manage flood risk and future sea level rise;
• Increasing green, resilient public open space along the Gowanus Canal and creating more green open space across Gowanus;
• Creating new job-generating space and fostering a mix of uses within the growing neighborhood that encourage residents to walk and bike or travel by other alternative modes;
• Creating a holistic, environmentally responsible planning approach for jobs, housing and recreation close to each other and near transit to further reduce our City’s carbon footprint;
• Encouraging new housing with required permanently affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing and improving public housing communities, all near to mass transit;
• Connecting residents to training, jobs and other opportunities, to further boost social, economic and environmental resiliency;
• Improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers on public spaces and streets.

The Framework’s ambitious goals will be achieved through a combination of public investment and programming, requirements for private development and community-based initiatives.

With further community feedback, the goal is to develop a draft Neighborhood Plan and implement a collective vision. The draft Plan will align community and government resources with draft zoning and land use changes designed to realize the goals of the Plan. Proposed land use actions would then enter the City’s public review process, or ULURP, which includes more opportunities for public input.