Mixed Agendas at Anti-Scarano Rally on Smith Street
We’d guesstimate that about 60 people spent their lunch hour yesterday listening to Councilman Bill de Blasio rail against the proposed design by Robert Scarano for the plaza and adjoining lot at Smith and 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens and call for the revocation of Mr. Scarano’s license to practice architecture. In his prepared remarks,…
We’d guesstimate that about 60 people spent their lunch hour yesterday listening to Councilman Bill de Blasio rail against the proposed design by Robert Scarano for the plaza and adjoining lot at Smith and 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens and call for the revocation of Mr. Scarano’s license to practice architecture. In his prepared remarks, de Blasio likened having Scarano do a project in the neighborhood to letting “the fox in the chicken coop.” “Scarano’s not welcome in our community,” he said more than once. Of course, the irony of de Blasio shaking his fist over an eight-story building being built in Carroll Gardens when he has not had any problem with a number of much taller buildings being built in nearby Fort Greene and Prospect Heights was not lost on some of the anti-Atlantic Yards protesters who showed up. In a piece of comedic theatre, two sign-holders from the de Blasio camp were kept on their toes trying to make sure that their anti-Scarano posters blocked the those of the Atlantic Yards protesters from the view of cameras. (Lots of reporters were on hand.) When the conference was over, we heard some locals saying they couldn’t give a hoot who the architect was as long as the building ended up being smaller scale. (“An enemy of my enemy is my friend.”) Based on an email that has made the rounds and was reported on Gowanus Lounge yesterday, the developer has already agreed to make the facade better integrated with neighboring buildings and has agreed to switch to a brick facade; last we heard, though, he wasn’t willing to give on the height of the building, which at its highest point is planned to reach 70 feet. Update: Neighborhood blog First and Court is reporting that DOB rejected the most recent set of plans yesterday.
Scarano Pushback on Smith [Brownstoner]
New Developments in the Battle of 360 Smith [Gowanus Lounge]
Correct Bob!(may I call you “Bob?”)
“I am going nowhere.”
By your and the buildings “you do” own doings 😉
Haves and Have nots???
Okay so let me get this right: Mr. Scarano the “sports car driving architect is a….hmmmm…a “have”? or a “have not”? (see Brooklyn Papers link cited above). And myself, a long-time Carroll Gardens resident with my used Ford 1996 I am a….”have” or a “have not”? Using the good ole “haves and have nots” guilt trip on residents of what was a middle class neighborhood until the wealthy developers and architects came here trying to capitalize on the place because it’s near Wall Street is the ultimate load of pooh-pooh!
What a Borough! The haves and those that will never have.
I work hard for my clients and our work will always be contested.
Thanks to those for the support and those who are still afraid of me, SORRY. I am going nowhere.
Density is to NY what oil is to Houston?
Not true! I can’t speak for Houston as I have never been there, but I have been in Brooklyn all my life and the reason I love Brooklyn is: it IS NOT dense like MANHATTAN!
If density is such a necessity here in NYC, then how do you explain Brownstone neighborhoods, brick house (3-4 stories) neighborhoods, wood-frame house neighborhoods, and even all the one family mansions along Bedford Ave? Come on, most of Brooklyn is not dense and that’s what people like about it. On the other hand Downtown Brooklyn has gotten denser and denser in the past five years because (!) real estate is hot here and developers are seizing land often too expensive for lay people to buy in order to make as much profit as possible, and (2) Bloomberg is encouraging the fastest building possible with new laws and regulations that have been seriously called into question by the Daily News two weeks ago. Developers are even buying single homes in groups of three on blocks and knocking them down to make one, large-scale, high rise building, which should be immediately outlawed.
The issue for 360 Smith Street is mostly one of zoning, and land use, not Scarano, per se, altho he is clearly in trouble for breaking the law himself.
To get a look at how much FAR TOO BIG! the proposed building is, simply spend the time to take a walk down Second street then look back up to Smith. There you will see brand new, pretty darn ugly (!) building: a private school building housing the Hannah Senesh School that already added a third floor onto a former two story D.O.E. building and used every color and almost every building material in the book.
Now, picture an eight(!) story building next to the that to the left and you will see how insanely high that building would be…unless it was well set back from the sidewalk (which was NOT Scarano’s intention) Such a high building would create a huge physical barrier by way of a giant, vertical wall.
I doubt any of you would like to live in the shadow of that building, or anyplace near the mass of it!
Smith Strret is not wide enough to support that kind of vertical height and has absolutely no building that size nor should it! It’s not Fourth Avenue after all and the traffic on Smith has already reached the over the top conjestion level daily. Try driving down Smith Street on your way to work on any given morning and you will see what I mean.
Ironically, the old building that used to occupy that now vacant lot was taken down by the MTA…..for the subway entrance and was a gorgeous five story brick building….(the MTA created the vacuum when it had the old building torn down)….notw it’s the MTA that has also given the green light to a new 8 story out of scale monster. Nice ‘replacement’ for the neighborhood, huh?
Scarano is simply the guy chosen to get the job done by Mr. William “Billy” Stein who no doubt hired him knowing his reputation was already tainted. What does that say about Mr. Stein, I wonder, besides he sound like the typical opportunist developer type guy who will never live on that corner or anyplace remotely near it.
“As of right” can and should be changed when “as of right” does not support the people that make up the neighborhood. An example: even if I could “as of right” add three more floors to my Brownstone I would not becuase I am part of an entire street of buildings my size; I am not alone in the middle of miles of empty land where I ccan do as I please. And: it would hurt all of my neighbors! That’s what gives any neighborhood its glue: the respect for each other despite differences.
When an arcane law allows an outside developer to come in and do something “as of right” that does not benefit the surrounding streets/community as well, then that law has got to be amended, for everyone’s sake. Laws have to exist for eveeryone, not just a few individuals.
Brooklyn is known for “neighborhoods”…not “density”. That’s what sets us apart from Manhaatan. Why should we allow our boro to become another Manhattan when there is already one? That’s why the pople who want to live there do live there.
Density is to NY what oil is to Houston?
Not true! I can’t speak for Houston as I have never been there, but I have been in Brooklyn all my life and the reason I love Brooklyn is: it IS NOT dense like MANHATTAN!
If density is such a necessity here in NYC, then how do you explain Brownstone neighborhoods, brick house (3-4 stories) neighborhoods, wood-frame house neighborhoods, and even all the one family mansions along Bedford Ave? Come on, most of Brooklyn is not dense and that’s what people like about it. On the other hand Downtown Brooklyn has gotten denser and denser in the past five years because (!) real estate is hot here and developers are seizing land often too expensive for lay people to buy in order to make as much profit as possible, and (2) Bloomberg is encouraging the fastest building possible with new laws and regulations that have been seriously called into question by the Daily News two weeks ago. Developers are even buying single homes in groups of three on blocks and knocking them down to make one, large-scale, high rise building, which should be immediately outlawed.
The issue for 360 Smith Street is mostly one of zoning, and land use, not Scarano, per se, altho he is clearly in trouble for breaking the law himself.
To get a look at how much FAR TOO BIG! the proposed building is, simply spend the time to take a walk down Second street then look back up to Smith. There you will see brand new, pretty darn ugly (!) building: a private school building housing the Hannah Senesh School that already added a third floor onto a former two story D.O.E. building and used every color and almost every building material in the book.
Now, picture an eight(!) story building next to the that to the left and you will see how insanely high that building would be…unless it was well set back from the sidewalk (which was NOT Scarano’s intention) Such a high building would create a huge physical barrier by way of a giant, vertical wall.
I doubt any of you would like to live in the shadow of that building, or anyplace near the mass of it!
Smith Strret is not wide enough to support that kind of vertical height and has absolutely no building that size nor should it! It’s not Fourth Avenue after all and the traffic on Smith has already reached the over the top conjestion level daily. Try driving down Smith Street on your way to work on any given morning and you will see what I mean.
Ironically, the old building that used to occupy that now vacant lot was taken down by the MTA…..for the subway entrance and was a gorgeous five story brick building….(the MTA created the vacuum when it had the old building torn down)….notw it’s the MTA that has also given the green light to a new 8 story out of scale monster. Nice ‘replacement’ for the neighborhood, huh?
Scarano is simply the guy chosen to get the job done by Mr. William “Billy” Stein who no doubt hired him knowing his reputation was already tainted. What does that say about Mr. Stein, I wonder, besides he sound like the typical opportunist developer type guy who will never live on that corner or anyplace remotely near it.
“As of right” can and should be changed when “as of right” does not support the people that make up the neighborhood. An example: even if I could “as of right” add three more floors to my Brownstone I would not becuase I am part of an entire street of buildings my size; I am not alone in the middle of miles of empty land where I ccan do as I please. And: it would hurt all of my neighbors! That’s what gives any neighborhood its glue: the respect for each other despite differences.
When an arcane law allows an outside developer to come in and do something “as of right” that does not benefit the surrounding streets/community as well, then that law has got to be amended, for everyone’s sake. Laws have to exist for eveeryone, not just a few individuals.
Brooklyn is known for “neighborhoods”…not “density”. That’s what sets us apart from Manhaatan. Why should we allow our boro to become another Manhattan when there is already one? That’s why the pople who want to live there do live there.
This is not about a building it is about politics, simple, but not so pure. Bill DiBlasio is running for Borough Prez. Feels the neighborhood NIMBYs beat him up pretty bad because of Atlantic Yards. Wanting to be all things to all people he tells the Building Trades (Union guys) that he is in favor of greater density and development in parts of Brooklyn. Then he tells the NIMBYs that he favors downzoning. And he tells ACORN (apparently the only people who care about rents) that he is doing both for “affordable housing”. He takes credit from the NIMBYs for stopping “out of context” development, irrationally downzoninng and takes credit for “creating jobs” with the building trades in other areas and takes credit for “affordable housing” with ACORN. Formula for election. Plus there is the added benefit of increased segregation as lower income people are pushed off to the industrial areas. Who could be against it.
This building is going to get build becaue it is legal. He will change a few things around but it will get built. Then it will become the demon tip of the spear for downzoning the neighborhood.
Density is to New York what oil is to Houston. This is entirely appropriate density for a lot next to a subway stop. In fact anything less would be inappropriate. It is called Transit Oriented Development. Other neighborhoods should be so lucky.
Action –
What do you do for living?
You can claim till tomorrow that he broke the law, and I’ll show you that every other architect did things that can be interpret as breaking the law. I GUARNTEE.
Pick a name and I’ll show you jobs that are against the code, zoning – you name it.
The examiners at the DOB do mistakes like any human being, some other get $$$ to not pay attention to other things.
So before you put your target at MR. S. do some homework, pick up a name and than you will have to point your angriness to other hobbies.
I don’t understand how you hold an architect responsible for unsafe conditions at the site. That is the developers responsibility isn’t it? What really does S do other than build what the owner of the land wants within the existing zoning laws? You certainly are not paying him, nor is the city. He serves his clients adhering to the zoning laws.
“He lost many jobs because he used to push the envelope but no one can take his talent as an architect.”
Does “pushing the envelope” equate to breaking the law?
Anon 6:54 PM, Please answer that quandary for me.
“It became a trendy to point on MR. S. but he is not the target.”
Actually, he’s made himself and his firm a perfect target. You can spit on the building as you walk/bike across the Man. Bridge.
Though the windows are always obscured by paper…not with $$ though. Times must be tight in DUMBO.