A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Rezoning

The Dept. of City Planning told Brownstoner yesterday that the long-planned rezoning of Gowanus is on hold. The public review period for the rezoning was set to begin next month but, inconveniently for the city, that’s also when the word will come down about the EPA’s Superfund designation for Gowanus. Here’s the official line from a Planning spokesperson: “Certification of the Gowanus Rezoning Proposal into the public review process is temporarily on hold to allow the City to focus on the alternative cleanup plan for the Canal, the potential for Superfund listing, and to better understand the relationship of this process to the rezoning. We still intend to advance the rezoning plan, and the EPA has also strongly encouraged the City to move forward with rezoning. Once there is a better understanding of the overall process of canal cleanup, the rezoning plan can move into the ULURP process.” The Brooklyn Paper reported in May that a staffmember of Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said the prospect of the Superfund designation had put the Gowanus rezoning “on pause.”
Conflict over Gowanus Canal Superfund Status [Brownstoner]