PLACE-BASED COMMUNITY BROWNFIELD PLANNING FOUNDATION REPORT ON EXISTING CONDITIONS SOMA South of Myrtle Avenue Ridgewood, Queens & Bushwick, Brooklyn FINAL May 2014 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 DATA SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY 6 PART ONE 7 GEOGRAPHY AND LAND USE 7 Historical Development 8 Housing Stock and Population 9 Current Community Features 10 Local Policy Context 11 Zoning 12 Study Area Boundary Justification 14 Land Use 16 Housing 18 Infrastructure 20 Transportation 20 Subway and Bus Service 22 Sewer and Power. Parks and Open Spaces 24 DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC PROFILE 26 Population 28 Industries and Employment 30 Local Business Profiles 32 Recent Public Initiatives and Private Developments 34 PART TWO 36 Data Sources and Methodology 37 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 39 Historical Contamination and Remediation Actions 40 STRATEGIC SITES 42 Site 1: Knitwork Properties 44 Site 2: Ridgewood Savings Bank 46 Site 3: Decatur Street Properties 48 BILL deBLASIO Site 4: Post Office Site 50 MAYOR Site 5: 1820 Decatur Street 52 Site 6: Boro Kitchen Cabinet 54 DANIEL C. WALSH, Ph.D. Site 7: Former Wolff Alport Chemical Company 56 DIRECTOR Site 8: Former Irving Avenue Homes 60 Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation Site 9: Cooper Street Site 62 Site 10: 282 Moffat Street 64 This document was prepared by the New York City Department of City Planning for the Site 11: Weirfield Coal 66 New York City Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation and the New York State Department of State with state funds provided through the Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program. KEY FINDINGS AND NEXT STEPS 68 SOURCES 69 APPENDIX 70 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SOMA, which derives its name from its location South Of In addition to textile and beverage production, some PURPOSE Myrtle Avenue, is an area straddling the Queens local businesses were involved in the manufacture and and Brooklyn border. This report was written to processing of chemical materials – some of them highly support community brownfield planning in the SOMA noxious. A prominent example of this is the Former Wolff study area. Such planning work can bring financial Alport Chemical Company, which was historically involved This existing conditions foundation report was commissioned by the New York City Mayor’s Office of and technical assistance to community-based in the refinement of radioactive materials associated with organizations working towards the revitalization of areas the Manhattan project and the development of nuclear Environmental Remediation (OER) to help community members and community-based organizations affected by brownfields., seeks to produce healthy weaponry. (CBO’s) conduct place-based planning for revitalization of vacant and underutilized brownfield neighborhoods, people and economies by capitalizing on existing community resources to redevelop brownfields. The Though it has a prominent industrial past, SOMA is also properties. Place-based planning by community groups is supported by OER under the NYC Place- analysis in this report was conducted in early 2014. home to a significant residential population. The L train Based Community Brownfield Planning Program and by the New York State Department of State in runs underneath Wyckoff Avenue, a commercial corridor SOMA has a rich history as a mixed the Brownfield Opportunity Area Program. To advance implementation of plans, OER provides characterized by a mix of industrial loft buildings and three- residential, commercial, and industrial to four-story brick apartment buildings with ground-floor financial and technical assistance to CBO’s for cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield properties neighborhood. The neighborhood’s built character retail. There are two subway stations within the study area: has remained relatively unchanged since its hey-day as a and seeks to help people foster greater health and well-being in their neighborhoods. one on Halsey Street and Wyckoff Avenue, the other on manufacturing center at the turn of the 20th century. Wilson Avenue adjacent to Trinity Cemetery. Located just south of Myrtle Avenue, a prominent Brownfields are vacant or underutilized properties where environmental pollution has deterred commercial corridor that services the area, SOMA is These issues -- stagnant industrial activity, severe contam- adjacent to the Knollwood Park, Trinity and Evergreen ination, and a significant residential population -- illustrate investment and redevelopment. Pollution introduces many risks to land development and often Cemeteries. The Study Area is situated in the western the need for the development of a comprehensive strategy causes community and private developers to pass over these properties, especially in low-income portion of Queens Community District 5 and the northern to guide further development in the neighborhood that accu- portion of Brooklyn Community District 4. rately reflects the mixed-use character of SOMA. It is neighborhoods where land values may be depressed and insufficient to cover added cleanup costs. imperative to protect residents who may be potentially Over time, brownfield sites accumulate and cluster in these neighborhoods, presenting heightened SOMA once served as the epicenter of knitwear production impacted by adjacent industrial uses and toxic residue, but and beer brewing in New York City. With the citywide health risks while also reducing opportunities for small businesses, permanent new jobs, and also to foster the creation of appropriate jobs in the area. decline in manufacturing businesses, the area has SOMA needs a plan to attract new public and private affordable housing. OER has established a wide variety of programs to support place-based struggled to remain active. Buildings have fallen into investment opportunities. Community brownfield planning disrepair, and there is a dearth of investment in the area. community brownfield planning and establish a local vision for use of these properties and to help offers an opportunity for the SOMA area to reinvent and Environmental degradation and contamination is prevalent renew while maintaining the historical integrity and bring community plans to life. Using these tools, we seek to help people turn brownfield liabilities in in areas with current and historic industrial activity like character of its existing building stock. SOMA. their neighborhoods into community assets. This report provides an overview of the study area’s geologic and natural features, historical development patterns, zoning, land use and infrastructure, as well as demographic and economic profiles, a summary of environmental conditions, and a preliminary evaluation of potential strategic properties. It is intended to initiate an ongoing process of data collection and analysis to better inform community planning activities and visioning and to enable people to make more informed decisions about their neighborhoods. This report was prepared by the New York City Department of City Planning under contract with the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation. Map 1. SOMA CONTEXT MAP Central STEIN W A Y DATA SOURCES Park The counts every U.S. Census Grand Central Pkway resident in the United States, ASTORIA and takes place every 10 MANHATTAN years. The data collected by the decennial census deter- Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge mine the number of seats each JACKSON state has in the U.S. House of LO N G HEIGHTS Representatives and is also ISLAN D CITY used to distribute billions in fed- eral funds to local communities. Queens Midtown Tunnel The American Community W OO DSIDE Survey (ACS) is an ongoing ELMHURST survey that provides data every SUN N YSID E year -- giving communities the Newtown Creek current information they need QUEENS to plan investments and ser- vices. The American Commu- GREEN PO IN T nity Survey includes questions Long Island Expressway that are not asked by the 2010 M ASPETH Census, and the two serve different purposes. E a s t R i v e r The Quarterly Census of M IDD LE Employment and Wages Williamsburg Bridge VILLAG E (QCEW) program produces a Brooklyn Queens Expressway comprehensive tabulation of Manhattan Bridge employment and wage infor- EAST RIDG EW O OD mation for workers covered by WILLIAMSBURG WILLIAMSBURG State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and Federal workers DUMBO GLENDALE covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal BUSHW IC K Employees (UCFE) program. SOMA The data are provided to the BRO OK LY N FORT study area Department of City Planning HEIGHTS (DCP) by the New York State GREENE Department of Labor (NYS BEDFORD STUYVESANT DOL), and are geocoded and CYPRESS analyzed by DCP. HILLS BROOKLYN BRO A DW A Y Primary Land Use Tax Lot GOWANUS JUN C TIO N Output (PLUTO) represents PART ONE PAR K a compilation of data from the SLOPE CROWN Department of Finance and the HEIGHTS EAST NEW YORK Department of City Planning. GEOGRAPHY AND LAND USE It includes primary tax lot and The SOMA Study Area is defined by the manufacturing zoning districts (M-Zones) that straddle the building characteristics such as BROWNSVILLE Queens/Brooklyn border. Its name is derived from its location South Of Myrtle Avenue. land use, ownership, year built, Located at the confluencePark of thePROSPECT two boroughs, the study area spans the neighborhoods of NEWRidgewood, number of units, lot and build- LEFFERTS LO TS Queens andW INBushwick, DSO R Brooklyn. GARDENS ing size, allowable and built Greenwood TERRAC E floor area ratio (FAR), and the Cemetery 0 0.5 1 $ This section will provide an overview of the historical development, geographic features, and land use Miles presence of historic districts or patterns of the study area. landmarks. 6 7 Ted Renz Historical DEVELOPMENT Both the neighborhood and borough boundaries in the SOMA area have been the subject of much past debate. Settled by HOUSING STOCK & POPULATION the Dutch and later the English in the 17th century, the border between the towns of Bushwick, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens (then called Newtown) was originally demarcated in 1769 by a 10,000-year-old glacial boulder known as Arbitration The majority of the housing stock in Ridgewood was built in the early 19th century to house German immigrants working in Rock.