Landmarks Commission Holds Preliminary
Hearing on 21 Blocks, 65 Structures
By Sarah Ryley
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
DUMBO — Developers of residential buildings in the once dreary factory district now known as DUMBO say they’re responsible for creating the sought-after bedroom and gallery community that exists today.
Now, resigned to the “inevitability” of 65 buildings on 21 blocks there being landmarked, they called on the city Landmarks Preservation Commission Tuesday to make their decision in tandem with an expected rezoning of the area that could allow for high-rise residential development on other DUMBO properties.
Preservationists and neighborhood activists, led by the DUMBO Neighborhood Association, have been working for eight years to have the neighborhood’s exterior, a favorite with photographers and filmmakers, protected from character-altering change through city landmark status.
In the meantime, several 19th Century “gems” like 205 Water St., a former foundry accredited for helping to build the Brooklyn Bridge, have been razed to make way for more modern-looking residential towers like the J Condos.
“The current supercharged real estate market has made it that much more urgent that DUMBO be rezoned and designated an historic district before its integrity is diminished,” said Irene Janner of Community Board 2 at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing on the matter.
“I think it’s an inevitability,” said Peter Forman, a co-owner of two industrial buildings within the proposed historic district on Jay Street who has publicly opposed landmarking in the past. “I’m more comfortable with landmarking now because we do believe it is ultimately the right thing for the neighborhood. But that’s only if it’s done respectfully, keeping the long-term goals of the neighborhood in mind,” he said.
Forman, Councilman David Yassky, Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management, and Tucker Reed, executive director of the DUMBO Business Improvement District — which represents Forman, J Condos, Two Trees and Joshua Guttman of Vera Realty Corp. — asked the Commission to complete the process concurrently with the City Planning Department’s expected rezoning of the area.
If the rezoning and landmarking are not done concurrently, Forman said “it would completely damage the ability for people to plan, and projects will grind to a halt.” He said, as of now, there are “no plans” for his two buildings on Jay Street — all alterations within the proposed district have been legally halted while the Commission considers landmarking.
The rezoning would ostensibly allow for high-rise buildings in place of non-landmarked ones within the district, and outside the district, such as along the waterfront and east of the Manhattan Bridge. Within the district, the design of new buildings, down to the window frames and doorways, would have to be approved by the Commission to assure that it maintains the character of the surrounding community.
Julie Ryan, a licensed city tour guide, said high-rise residential buildings within the historic district would also destroy the “frozen, pure and romantic” character captured in the “hulking and unapologetic” architecture of its industrial buildings, which generally rise eight to twelve stories.
“The collection of these maritime and manufacturing buildings bear witness to the work and struggle of so many generations of Americans, from whom we descend, who worked in the industries that helped make the United States the greatest and most exciting new country in the world,” Ryan said in her testimony.
“As an educational guide, I frequently try to impart this message to students visiting New York. It’s far more effective when they can experience an area that really brings the themes of the industrial revolution to light.”
Yassky, in his testimony, requested that the Commission use its influence with City Planning to hinder Walentas’ proposal for an 18-story building at 38 Water St., which although not within the district, would block views of the Brooklyn Bridge approach.
Forman, Yassky and Reed also asked the Commission to allow for ground-floor retail — whereas loading docks are more in keeping with the buildings’ industrial character despite the loft apartments above — and to streamline the process of approving storefronts for the sake of building owners and retailers.
Many at the hearing called for infrastructure improvements. Preservationists said they are most concerned with the Belgian block streets and imbedded railways that give the neighborhoods its charming character, but have been haphazardly torn up or covered with lumpy patches of asphalt.
“Old stone sidewalks, polished by a hundred years of water, are hauled away and replaced by cement. Utility crews use water-cooled diamond blade saws to slice through Belgian block streets, then cover their corporate vandalism with blacktop,” said Milt Herder, a member of the DUMBO Neighborhood Association. “Complaints to appropriate city departments go nowhere. Nothing short of Landmark protection will work.”
Dan Wiley, a community liaison for Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who supports the designation, said the city’s Transportation Department would not replace Belgian block or cobblestone streets unless they’re landmarked, which would explain the asphalt.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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