Dock Street Protesters: 20% There on Signatures
The public relations piece of the fight over the Dock Street development proposed for Dumbo is in high gear, with protesters braving the cold temps to collect signatures against the mixed-use project. (Whether it’s any match for the postcard-mailing campaigns of Walentas & Co. remains to be seen.) What’s not to like? Some folks in…
The public relations piece of the fight over the Dock Street development proposed for Dumbo is in high gear, with protesters braving the cold temps to collect signatures against the mixed-use project. (Whether it’s any match for the postcard-mailing campaigns of Walentas & Co. remains to be seen.) What’s not to like? Some folks in the area, including the Dumbo Neighborhood Association and the Brooklyn Heights Association, think the proposed building is too big and too close to the Brooklyn Bridge and aren’t being won over by the inclusion of 80 affordable units of housing or the potential for a new public middle school. One of the guys with a placard and a noteboard told us they’d collected about 2,000 sigs to date out of the 10,000 they’re hoping to get before the ULURP hearings begin.
Dock Street Plans (Marina and All) Go 3D [Brownstoner]
Yassky and Walentas Square Off over Dock Street [Brownstoner]
Two Trees Plans Mixed Use Building Next to Bridge [Brownstoner]
DUMBO Controversy Spurs Petition Drive [Brooklyn Eagle]
We do people always say we need affordable housing? Why do we need affordable housing, and what IS affordable housing. Currently my housing is affordable to me. Why would it be considered an amenity to me if there are lots of housing units created next door to me where people make a lot less money than I do? Why would I want to support something that will ruin my views and create an artifical ceiling on housing prices? If someone has enough money to pay for market rate housing, and it happens to be in a desirable neighborhood, why wouldn’t they want to fight to keep the neighborhood full of market rate housing?
Can’t we all just love one another? Where is the love? where is the love?
@6:52
“and there are MANY large, 20+ storey buildings in this immediate area.”
You don’t know what you’re talking about, there are NO 20 story buildings within a three blocks of this proposed site. There are only two 20+ story buildings in all of DUMBO; J and Beacon. They are also perfect example of what happens when buildings get built out of proportion. We are talking very specifically about THIS immediate block.
The landscape would be significantly altered for the worse if this thing is allowed to be built as TT is proposing.
I am not sure if Walentas will actually rent out space for a school. I would be suspicious of this. There is a special preschool that already exists down in DUMBO for the past 17 years and he is not renewing the lease b/c he is making the building into condos.
Hey, wait a minute, its going to block my view of the bridge, I’m going to protest! I deserve the view I paid for.
(dramatization of real life conversation)
I think it’s smart business. He is giving something up to get something. Are people that dim?
Meanwhile, I live in Brooklyn Heights and was walking in this area today — like most days — and there are MANY large, 20+ storey buildings in this immediate area. How is it out of context? Okay for your condo building, but not this building? Pull back on the protesters shot of the bridge and you’d see the Witnesses have a bunch taller than this, just as close to the bridge. Or closer.
I sense this will come down to about 14 storeys and I am 100% fine with that. Let’s just make sure we get the affordable housing too. I’m sick of what Dumbo has become.
I’ve read most of the post here, and the “pro” Walentas/Two Tree post tend to make vague comments about affordable housing and schools. Implying that anyone against the project is against these ideals.
I live in Dumbo, I could care less if TT used the entire site for affordable housing or a school or even both. I don’t want a building that is not contextual and is too tall.
Is Walentas saying that the only way he can bring these features to a building is to put them in a gigantoid building?
He owned many building in this area for DECADES, why didn’t he put in a school or affordable housing before? His current scheme like many of the “pro” variance post here is disingenuous.
I like how the owners of million dollar condos at 70 Washington have positioned themselves as “the community” in this debate and the people who want affordable housing in the area and a decent public school (absolutely possible if space was made available — not any space but space designed for a schoool and up to those codes) are the greedy bastards.
Yeah, I agree. This is not about a building, but those evil neighborhood associations. The building should be 100 stories. And Wallentas is so handsome.