Rover has posted quite the rant about preservationists, civic activists, and the infamous Green Church. And I think he hits the nail on the head when he writes -
Serious people who can find de jure solutions that put our community's shared truths (aesthetic, historical and infrastructural) on an equal administrative footing with those of developers'.
While, more importantly, recognizing a pragmatic and elemental truth in a compromise somewhere between an outright rejection of change, and unbridled development - with a watchful eye to beauty and utility.
Yes, the "activists" and politicians are up in arms about the fate of the Church and I think they should be rankled. I can't speak for anyone else but there are several issues that have me riled:
1. The Green Church comes right on the heels of the loss of three Victorians. The community was told by the Basile Builders Group that they were going to restore the Victorians and then they sneaked in under cover of night and tore them down.
2. Nearly three years ago, Congressman Vito Fossella created an “Over-Development Task Force” and even created a sub-task force to specifically study the Green Church, yet nothing has been heard from either - um - force.
3. The Preservationists and the Methodists have not come to the table since March to discuss options (and I thought the writer's strike was bad).
4. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has completely ignored the situation.
5. The possibility that a funeral home on 4th Ave. will be replaced with a seven-story condo complex.
Yeah, okay, number five seems a little out of place here but it has me riled and it comes back around soon.
6. The Methodists rejected a proposal from Gentile and the Con Edison Renaissance Housing Program yet I haven't seen what the details were of the proposal.
7. What seems like complete disregard of the community by Pastor Robert Emerick. (I hear he's a nice guy. Righty told me. But the Pastor hasn't come off too well in the press)
8. That freak chick from American Idol who's now getting more air time than she deserves.
Yeah, okay, number eight proves I need a life.
9. Where the hell has Marty Golden been during all of this?
It feels as if developers are coming in here with no regard for the community, for the aesthetics of the community, or for the community's infrastructure. We're being lied to and trampled on. I think the Green Church is a culmination of a lot of issues.
If The Ridge adds -- or what it feels like to me -- if The Ridge has thrust upon them fifty condos in place of the Church and a seven-story condo complex in place of a funeral home, who's going to come in and build new schools? Our schools are already overcrowded -
P.S. 170 Lexington School- overcrowded, so four classes are housed in trailers
P.S. 104 Fort Hamilton School- Unfortunately, the school grapples with overcrowding. Kindergarten classes, unable to fit into the main school, take place in a district building five blocks away. And middle school classrooms are too cramped to hold comfortably the 30 or so kids in each class.
P.S. 185 Walter Kassenbrock School- The school is overcrowded, with more than 700 children in a building designed for 500. Who's going to come in and alleviate the new traffic problems? The new parking problems?
So, yes, Rover, we need a "compromise somewhere between an outright rejection of change and unbridled development."
1 comment:
"The Green Church comes right on the heels of the loss of three Victorians. The community was told by the Basile Builders Group that they were going to restore the Victorians and then they sneaked in under cover of night and tore them down."
You can vet any statement by Basile (or any developer)by querying the New York City Department of Buildings free BIS database on NYC.Gov. for contrary information.
"Nearly three years ago, Congressman Vito Fossella created an “Over-Development Task Force” and even created a sub-task force to specifically study the Green Church, yet nothing has been heard from either - um - force."
And will we, the voters, hold Fosella accountable for his record the next time he runs for office?
"The Preservationists and the Methodists have not come to the table since March to discuss options (and I thought the writer's strike was bad)."
The Methodists have not come to the table since March to discuss options. The purchase and sale contract was signed in March, 2007.
"The Landmarks Preservation Commission has completely ignored the situation."
In all likelihood, the Commission doesn't know about the situation, because Chairman Robert Tierney has not calendared the application for a hearing by the full Commission.
"The possibility that a funeral home on 4th Ave. will be replaced with a seven-story condo complex."
The contextual zoning envelope is controlled by maximum height and maximum density, so any single-family dwelling that shares a block with 7-story apartment buildings is vulnerable to demolition -- absent local landmark protection.
"The Methodists rejected a proposal from Gentile and the Con Edison Renaissance Housing Program yet I haven't seen what the details were of the proposal."
Have you asked Councilmember Gentile's office what those details were?
"What seems like complete disregard of the community by Pastor Robert Emerick."
Could this begin to explain why Emerick's tactics have outraged the people who are committed to preserving the best of the built environment in Bay Ridge?
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