Gowanus Nursery May Be Uprooted. Again.
A zoning thicket may force the Gowanus Nursery out of the Red Hook location it moved to less than a year ago. The city is apparently kowtowing to pressures from the space’s landlords, Jack LoCicero and Eric Nocera, and considering rezoning a couple of parcels on Summit Street—including the one the nursery occupies—for residential use….
A zoning thicket may force the Gowanus Nursery out of the Red Hook location it moved to less than a year ago. The city is apparently kowtowing to pressures from the space’s landlords, Jack LoCicero and Eric Nocera, and considering rezoning a couple of parcels on Summit Street—including the one the nursery occupies—for residential use. The nursery, which sells hard-to-find plants from specialty growers, moved to the Red Hook space from 3rd Street last November. If the new zoning is approved, the business will be kicked to the curb this May. The nursery’s owner told us a May eviction would be particularly hard on the business given its seasonal nature, and that when she moved to Summit Street she had every expectation of signing a lease renewal this year. The city’s zoning whimsies seem particularly misguided in this instance, since they may result in the closure of a unique business that barely got a chance to make a go of it in its new neighborhood. According to Gowanus Lounge, if the zoning change goes through, the nursery could be replaced by a building that’s almost 12 stories high, while a story in the Brooklyn Eagle says the landlords are currently planning a four-story, 35-unit development.
Gowanus Nursery Appeals for Help Fighting Likely Eviction [Gowanus Lounge]
Housing Could Evict Popular Brooklyn Plant Nursery [Brooklyn Eagle]
Gowanus Nursery To Get Boot from 3rd Street [Brownstoner]
Gowanus Nursery Open [Brownstoner] GMAP
Well I hope you stay-it’s a nice addition to that neighbourhood, which desperately needs something like this.
Why do so many people troll the blogs looking for something negative and snide to say?
The point is not that “I like this place, therefore the zoning is wrong” but that too often zoning variances and spot-rezoning get through to benefit big developers because they have the money and political clout and, in turn, neighborhoods suffer…
Vibrant neighborhoods need small businesses and zoning that takes big-picture city planning into account.
As the owner of Gowanus Nursery I have a few comments about the guest who seems so ‘disturbed’ about the state of our business and the decision making process behind them. Clearly this is the case of a person who has much time to read blogs and not a lot of real life experience in what it is like to own and manage a business not to mention try to find a peice of land in ‘brooklyn’ as we now are coming to know it…
While many may ‘see’ what looks like uninhabited land in fact most of it is slated by developers in the near future, or is being held by landowners prospecting on the future of it’s value to developers. That said try and get a two year lease that has running water, electricity and sun. It is no easy task. For instance that piece of property on Myrtle is tied up in a complicated lease with property around the corner on Waverly.
It is naive to think that things that pass through Markowitz, planning and city council are all ‘good’ for the city. In fact what has happened here is a lowering of the variance procedures to allow for a zoning change that will result in a commercial, residential, commercial, residential block on our side alone. It’s hard to see what part of that involved planning.
Having said all of that it IS sad that New York City have made it so difficult for start-up businesses that require this type of space to live and thrive. We would like to continue to offer Brownstone Brooklyn gardeners a resource that formerly was only available through mail-order and out-of-city suppliers. Certainly the level of expertise and service we offer is not easily duplicated.
The point is we are struggling to stay, we love Brooklyn.
I don’t think the landlord’s decision not to renew a lease is the same as an eviction. Unless you just want to be inflamatory and anti-landlord.
The 9:22 post has it right. There are two issues here. 1) The owners of the nursery made a very poor business decision not to sign a multi-year lease (if one was offered) or to locate their business in a place where they “assumed” they could get a renewal. Even with no zoning change, the landlord could have sought an increase that they could not have afforded, or a new tenant. 2)Then there is the zoning issue. This is not subject to the City’s whimsy, but part of the ULURP process which requires public hearings and/or approvals before the community board, borough president, City Planning Commission, and possibly the City Council and Mayor. If not succesful through ULURP, then on to the Board of Standards and Appeals. Then we will see what gets built there.
I have a garden in Brooklyn and like and have shopped at the Gowanus Nursery but their naivete about business and real estate in nyc is sad.
If the city council insists on bending to the will of developer$ in this case, perhaps some relocation grants could be developed, since Gowanus Nursery is a minority owned and run business.
For a while the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project http://www.myrtleavenue.org was offering some variety of incentives to new local development. What about the lot on the corner of Myrtle and Waverley, with the Adami Hardware powertools mural?
I feel bad for them trying to move now, since it looks as if EVERY empty lot in EVERY part of NYC has plans to develop. It makes a business like her’s difficult.
I like Gowanus Nursery a lot. Therefore, the zoning decision is wrong, because it harms a business I personally like.
This is very sad. Gowanus nursery is really amazing – great plants at great prices. Hopefully they can find another lot further into red hook. I’m sure their loyal customers will follow them, and since you have to bring cars anyway to buy plants, it doesn’t really matter where they are.
Jack LoCicero and his architect of choice, Henry Radusky, have a long track record of bending the rules and lying to build completely out of context buildings. Make no mistake that their proposed 4 story building will magically turn into a 12 story building. Just do a google search on his name to see some of the tactics he has used to build out-of-context buildings. I consider him a far worse threat to Brooklyn than Scarano because his buildings are invariably ugly, unimaginative and cheaply made. He is bad for Brooklyn and should be stopped. The Gowanus Nursery on the other hand is a great asset to the neighborhood and all of Brooklyn.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0528,robbins1,65771,5.html