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Gowanus Pathways. a Framework to Support Community Resilience

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Gowanus Pathways. a Framework to Support Community Resilience Gowanus Pathways. a framework to support community resilience SES 660A | Capstone Adrienne Downey | Fall 2017 RISK MANAGEMENT Summary Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) is a major voice in the Gowanus Community of Brooklyn, New York City. A primary steward of the neighborhood’s affordable housing assets and inclusivity visions, a respected and willing partner with the business community, and a strong voice for community TRANSFORMATIVE sustainability and resilience. But even with the best visions and coalitions, circumstances are stressing even the most stalwart tools. STEWARD Heading into a major neighborhood rezoning this fall, concurrent with more than $1.3 billion committed for environmental cleanup up the toxic Gowanus canal. Deep speculative pressures from developers and a prevailing municipal attitude that favors public private partnership, are exacerbating residential and industrial displacement concerns. Transforming the hardscape also raises concerns over environmental gentrification even as much-needed remediation, growth, and affordable housing assets are added. Add to the foregoing, the pernicious reality of climate change, and the stakes for transformative change are higher than ever. Deep uncertainty for the ADAPTIVE Community’s future is battling against deep anxiety for sustainable outcomes. In pursuit of the Community’s self-determined visions (Bridging Gowanus, 2014, Survive and Thrive, 2017, and Urban Heat Island Technical Assistance Panel, 2017) this Capstone will present a plan to help FAC negotiate a resilient future for Gowanus using an emerging policy technique: Adaptation Pathways. It will further examine links to potential determinants such as tax-increment financing mechanisms (TIF, Bridging Gowanus) or complementary spinoffs TRANSPARENT such as the EcoDistricts® frameworks (UHI TAP). Steeped in risk-management principles and in explicit acknowledgment of limited predictability in circumstances of deep uncertainty, Flexible Adaptation Pathways (also commonly, Dynamic Adaptation Pathways) models are comprehensive in framework and tactical in application. Designed to be flexible, objective, transparent, and responsive to evolving circumstances, a Gowanus Pathways Framework, used to administer community funds, driven by Fifth Avenue Committee and its community partners presents an important resource in the community toolbox in stewarding successful outcomes from transformative change in the years to come. DEEP UNCERTAINTY Systems theory and risk management disciplines calls this scale of transformative change: conditions of deep uncertainty. Layers of interconnections, compounding circumstances, and paradoxical results thwart the predictability of standard models and confounds the usual tools of policy and intervention – especially siloed agency approaches and investment decisions front-loaded in time. Working under the assumption that Fifth Avenue Committee, together with its Community FLEXIBLE partners will successfully negotiate a suitable agreement to leverage public funding through rezoning and subsequent development of the Gowanus neighborhood, Adaptation Pathways are recommended as the ideal tool for Fifth Avenue Committee to reconcile conditions of RESILIENT systems complexity and deep uncertainty with a resilient and adaptive approach. Cover Image: Adapted from [36] Hasnoot et al. “Dynamic adaptive policy pathways: A method for crafting robust decisions for a deeply uncertain world”. Global Environmental Change. Volume 23, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 485-498 CB6 - Brooklyn Community Board 6 CPC - New York City Planning Commission CWA - Clean Water Act DCP - NYC Department of City Planning Contents DEP - NYC Department of Environmental Protection DOE - NYC Department of Education Acknowledgments 3 EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EDP - Equitable Development Plan FAC - Fifth Avenue Committee Client Profile 5 FAR - Floor Area Ratio GI - Green Infrastructure 1. Transformative Change 7 GCC- Gowanus Canal Conservancy GHG - Greenhouse Gases GNCJ - Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice 2. Foundations & Practice 17 HYIC - Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation Case Study #1: NYC Green Infrastructure Plan (New York City) 23 LTCP - Long Term Control Plan Case Study #2: Thames Estuary, TE2100 Plan (London, United Kingdom) 28 MOS - NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Case Study #3: Rhine Delta (Netherlands) 30 MORR - NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency Case Study #4: Dutch Kills Green (Queens, New York City) 34 NEIWCPP - New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission Case Study #5: 11th Street Bridge Park (Washington, D.C.) 36 NYC - New York City Case Study #6: Onondaga Lake Watershed Partnership (Syracuse, New York) 38 NYCHA - New York City Housing Authority Case Study #7: Hudson Yards (Manhattan, New York City) 41 NPCC - New York City Panel on Climate Change OLWP - Onondaga Lake Watershed Partnership 3. Gowanus Visions 45 PILOT - Payment in Lieu of Taxes RCP - Representative Concentration Pathways SLR - Sea Level Rise 4. Gowanus Pathways 49 TAP - Technical Assistance Panel TIF - Tax Increment Financing 5. Determinants and Spin-offs 57 TDR - Transfer of Development Rights UHI - Urban Heat Island ULI - Urban Land Institute 6. Conclusions 61 Common Abbreviations page intentionally left blank. Acknowledgments In preparation of this Capstone, I would like to extend sincere thanks to the following individuals for their invaluable time and insights: Elena Conte and Sydney Cespedes of the Pratt Center for Community Development; and Christine Petro of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. Michelle de la Uz and Sabine Aronowsky of Fifth Avenue Committee. Your dedication and results astound. I am grateful for your support for this Capstone and sincerely hope that it has value in the coming months. Thanks to Alec Appelbaum and Jaime Stein, for their professional insights and deep commitments to intel- lectual growth, sustainability and social justice. Thanks similarly to my fellow Capstone classmates for their shared encouragement and ideas along our journey. Finally, in paraphrasing Jane Jacobs from the Economy of Cities1: “the most valuable of a writer’s materials is uninterrupted time in which to write, and I am grateful beyond measure to my husband…and my [son]…for their gifts to me of time and their cheerful protection of it against incursions.” Like most of her observations, their economy and understatement are no cover for their depth of under- standing. page intentionally left blank. 2 3 Client Profile Founded in 1978, FAC is a non-profit community development corporation in Gowanus, South Brooklyn whose scope of work includes affordable housing, economic development, community organization, education, and advocacy for its community of +5,000 low- and moderate-income New Yorkers across the neighborhoods spanned by Brooklyn Community Board 6 (CB6).2 FAC operates under seven “Principles in Action” [See FAC Principles in Action] alongside affiliate and subsidiary organizations Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, and frequent coalition partners Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), Gowanus Alliance, Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC), New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident’s associations, local arts and religious groups, elected officials, and economic development partners.2 FAC’s Executive Director is Michelle de la Uz; at the helm since January 2004. Michelle serves on the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) National Board, New Partners for Community Revitalization, Inc. and is the former Chair of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. She is currently also a Commissioner on New York City’s Planning Commission (CPC), and thereby participates regularly in citywide land-use actions. Under Michelle’s leadership, the number of multi-family, mixed use housing and commercial spaces under FAC’s management has more than doubled and its building stock has importantly included sustainable design practices including affordable LEED® Platinum and Gold projects.3 Between its open doors for programming, skin-in the-game experience as a landlord, coalition advocacy partnerships, and the Executive Director’s particular vantage point as Commissioner, FAC is an organization with a strong handle on the pulse of the Gowanus neighborhood and its context within citywide developmental challenges and politics. FAC Principles in Action2 But FAC’s team is small, and their resources tight (annual operating budget of ~$20M, including $10M in real Combining Organizing and Development Modeling Sustainability estate assets for affordable housing, and a pipeline for development of nearly 1,000 units of affordable hous- We combine grassroots organizing with community development so We pursue development that equitably meets the needs of pres- ing3). Straddling between the roles of community advocate and empowerment agency, environmental and people can live with dignity and respect. Through organizing, we bring ent and future generations. Sustainable design, construction and public health steward, and one of the largest affordable housing landlords in the neighborhood, FAC’s role is as people together to fight for justice. Through development, we take maintenance practices improve the quality of life for our residents collective responsibility for the welfare of our community. and community. We seek to make hidden health, social, economic and important as it is strained. To be effective they need the right tools and a seat at the
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