While preliminary work on the Public Place site between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal only started last week, work crews have already denuded the site of trees and vegetation and it would appear that some digging has started. Neighbors have been concerned about whether the site will be monitored for any possible airborne contaminants, although many of the toxins left behind by the manufactured gas plant that once occupied the site are deep underground. Council Member Bill de Blasio sent a letter to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development last week with a long list of questions about monitoring the work, but it’s unknown if there has been any response. The extent of the work is very visible from the F and G trains as it travels on the Culver Viaduct down into the Carroll Street Station.
1 response so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Mar 29, 2008 at 8:35 am
Is there any opportunity for the community to comment on the inappropriateness of the scale of the planned buildings? 12 stories – that over a 120 feet high – not including the elevator towers – on a site where the adjacent buildings are not more than 40′ high. 505 down the street – at the “edge” of Carroll Gardens is only 10 stories. At a time when the community is trying to rezone at a smaller scale what is the Housing Department forcing on us?