Urban Farm Conference from MAS

The Municipal Art Society recently hosted a conference called "Designing Urban Farms to Feed Our City," and they now have a podcast (here) and slideshow (embedded below) related to it up on their site, which describes the event as follows:

Representing a variety of perspectives on sustainable agriculture, architecture and planning, and touching on issues as diverse as zoning, organic farming, national agricultural policy, and climate change, the panelists addressed the question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

Our own local Red Hook Community Farm, run by Added Value, was mentioned in the discussion, which shows how this neighborhood is on the forefront of a growing trend! Considering that this area has not only the farm, but a number of community gardens and backyards, its interesting to think about the future of urban farming in NYC.

Public hearing on Carroll Gardens / Columbia Waterfront rezoning plan

There will be a public hearing before the City Planning Commission this Wednesday regarding the proposed rezoning plan for Carroll Gardens and the Columbia Waterfront. The meeting will take place in Manhattan at 22 Reade St. at 10 am.

If interested, read up on related topics with the following links:

- Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association's (COWNA) "Rezoning Goals Statement"
- COWNA's "Proposed Zoning Map"
- Coalition for Respectful Development's (CORD) explanation of issues and problem areas in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

- Previous coverage on our site can be found here or here

PUBLIC HEARING on Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street Contextual Rezoning Plan

Councilmember Bill de Blasio's office sent out an email this week announcing a public hearing about our local rezoning initiative. The email is below. You can read up more on this issue here or over at the COWNA site.

UPDATE: I found a map of the proposed zoning from the Dept. of City planning, via Pardon Me for Asking:

Dear Neighbors,

The next public hearing on the down-zoning of Carroll Gardens is coming up. The process of down-zoning of Carroll Gardens has been a long one, but will hopefully soon come to fruition. The next step in that process is a public hearing by the Brooklyn Borough President's Office:

July 14 Borough President's Office Meeting 4:30pm

PUBLIC HEARING on Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street Contextual Rezoning Plan

In the matter of applications submitted by the Department of City Planning, pursuant to Sections 197-c and 201 of the New York City Charter seeking an amendment of the zoning map to facilitate the rezoning of 86 blocks in the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street areas of Community District 6. A copy of the full description is available for review at the Borough President's Office. Contact (718) 802-3856 for further information.

Court Room, Second Floor

Brooklyn Borough Hall

209 Joralemon Street

Brooklyn, New York 11201

I hope you will all turn out to support the down-zoning plan. If you cannot attend, you can still email your comments to Tom Gray at tagray1 ((( at ))) gmail.com. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact my office at 917-854-9791.

Sincerely,

Bill de Blasio

General Meeting of the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association (CoWNA)

Yesterday was the latest general meeting, held at the Jalopy theater. I went and met the people of the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association (CoWNA). A dedicated group of local residents fighting to preserve the identity of our neighborhood.

The agenda included updates from the committees, the finalizing a statement of goals for rezoning our neighborhood, as well as a discussion on traffic through the neighborhood (specifically the Ikea shuttle route).

Several politicos showed up, all announcing they were there to listen. Craig Hammerman, current District Manager CB6 and candidate for City Council's 39th district; John Heyer, Brooklyn Borough President's representative to CB6 and candidate for City Council's 39th district; Jo Anne Simon, candidate for City Council's 33rd district; and State Senator Martin Connor.

The Land Use Committee presented their recommendations for the rezoning of the area. The goals are to maintain the intimate character of the existing community (by rezoning from R-6 to R-6B, which would limit the height of new construction to 50ft, and respect the street wall; Fort Greene recently made the change), to preserve the existing mixed-use pattern of development and strengthen the Columbia Street and Union Street retail areas (by rezoning from M1-1 Manufacturing to Mx/R6B Mixed use; as Williamsburg and the Gowanus Canal area did). The likelihood of this happening is rather slim, it seems we can't hope for anything until the next administration, that's 2010.

The Education Committee presented their policy paper on the recent mess regarding pre-K admissions at PS 29, and PS 58. There seems to be very little that can be done. Only to wait and see the effects, and then do a report... We will be faced in the near future with a real overcrowding issue, as more an more families stay in NYC instead of moving out to the burbs. We can only hope for more schools to open.

The Parks and Open Space Committee commissioning a quality of the air study. And a street fair is being planned for Sept 13.

Then the Committee of everything-else-not-previously-mentioned talked about the traffic issues, mainly the Ikea shuttle route. They are supposed to turn onto Van Brunt at Degraw, but are instead gunning down Columbia making it difficult and dangerous to cross the street. Here again, it will be at least 6 months before we see any change. At this point, we need people to call local officials, there needs to be enough complaints and testimonies before anything can be done.

There are a lot of problems that need to be resolved and it will happen only if we all do our part. FYI: The City Council has, among other things, the power to review land use issues and approve zoning changes, housing and urban renewal plans, community development plans and the disposition of city-owned property.

To voice your opinion contact:
Office of Community Board 6
Councilman Craig Mammerman
(718) 643 3027, x204, ask for Leroy Branch
www.brooklyncb6.org

Don't ever doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.