BOROUGH Brooklyn MAP ID# B3 COUNCIL DISTRICT 38 COMMUNITY BOARD 6 NAME OF PLAN: Red Hook Plan Community Organization Brooklyn Community Board 6 Address 250 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Contact Name Craig Hammerman Phone Number 718.643.3027 Fax Number Website http://www.brooklyncb6.org/ TYPE OF PLAN 197-a GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF PLAN The boundaries of the Red Hook 197-a plan are Hamilton Avenue, Gowanus Creek, Erie Basin, and the Buttermilk Channel. NEIGHBORHOOD/PLAN BACKGROUND Red Hook is one of Brooklyn's oldest waterfront communities. Industry and housing have coexisted in this area for over a century. From the 1850s to the mid 20th century, Red Hook docks and piers played a major role in the movement of cargo to and from the United States. The upland portions of Red Hook housed the types of services and industries consistent with a busy port; such as ship repair, warehousing, and light industry. The intense economic activity in Red Hook slowed down after World War II, and the economic base in the area steadily eroded. Economic trends, government actions, and government neglect in the following years produced many of the problems that still plague the neighborhood today. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Brooklyn Battery Tunnel were built, cutting Red Hook off from Gowanus, Carroll Gardens and other neighborhoods. The Port Authority bought Erie Basin and other waterfront properties in 1958 and 1959, but industrial activity declined with the transition from break-bulk shipping to containerization. In 1972 an ineffective urban renewal effort ended in further decline and abandonment of housing. In the 1980s, many vacant lots were taken by the City for non- payment of taxes, resold at auction, and left undeveloped. Today, large amounts of vacant residential and industrial land are used for open storage and dumping. Waste transfer stations have proliferated and are located near the homes of residents. There is no access to the waterfront in a community with historic ties to the maritime industry. The disinvestment, isolation and abandonment were countered by two major public investments: Red Hook Houses and the Red Hook Recreational Area. Red Hook Houses was constructed in the 1940s as a New York City Public Housing Project. Today, about three-fourths of Red Hook's population lives in Red Hook Houses. The Red Hook Recreational Area comprises forty acres of open space, one of the largest recreational areas in northern Brooklyn. GOALS OF PLAN 1. Promote opportunities for the development of Red Hook's main asset-- its people-- including improved housing, social services and youth services, and expansion of the residential community. 2. Support the preservation and expansion of industrial and maritime activity where it is currently solidly positioned in the northwest and southeast sections of Red Hook. 3. Promote employment and business opportunities for local residents. 4. Promote new residential development in the context of an economically, socially and physically integrated community. 5. Guide future development in a way that minimizes conflicts between industrial and residential communities. 6. Strengthen, support, and expand the burgeoning arts community. 7. Improve access to, egress from, and circulation within Red Hook by public transportation. 8. Strengthen existing retail commercial areas. 9. Revitalize and create public access to the waterfront, one of Red Hook's major assets. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Construct 250 units of affordable infill housing in the six-block residential district referred to by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) as "Conover Square" and rehabilitate the city-owned building at 480-500 Van Brunt Street for approximately 150 units of housing, of which 80% would be affordable housing. 2. Rezone the area between Sullivan and Van Brunt Streets and the seven-block area bounded by Coffey, Beard, Van Brunt and Columbia Streets for mixed use. 3. Rezone to promote residential/commercial development on Van Brunt Street between Seabring Street and the waterfront. 4. The city-owned building at 480-500 Van Brunt Street should be rehabilitated according to the following guidelines: ground floor retail with owner-occupied units above; a mix of apartment sizes, including larger units for families and artists, with an average net size of 850 square feet; apartment distribution as follows: 20% for households earning under $20,000/year, 60% for those earning $20-53,000, and 20% for those above $53,000. Other vacant and occupied city-owned buildings in Red Hook should also be rehabilitated. 5. Establish a new educational/commerce center with youth and social services to be known as "Education Plaza." 6. Upgrade and preserve the Red Hook Marine Terminal for maritime use. 7. Establish industrial and commercial incubator programs to encourage local entrepreneurship, such as making storefront space available on Clinton Street for local entrepreneurs. 8. Red Hook should be part of any newly designated Economic Development Zone in South Brooklyn. 9. New industrial development in Red Hook should not conflict with the proposed commercial/residential plans for adjacent areas. 10. There should be no new waste facilities in the community. 11. The Revere Sugar and Grain Terminal sites should be redeveloped for maritime use in ways that generate employment for Red Hook residents. 12. Establish a free subway transfer between the B61 bus and the Borough Hall subway stations in downtown Brooklyn. 13. Establish regular-fare bus service from Red Hook to lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. 14. Place traffic calming measures and "No Truck" signs on residential blocks in Red Hook and change truck route from Columbia Street to Court Street and Smith Streets. 15. Enhance two main gateways to Red Hook: Clinton Street and Van Brunt Street . 16. Include Red Hook as part of a Brooklyn Waterfront Trail for pedestrians and bicycles. 17. Preserve and repair cobblestones on Red Hook's streets. 18. Provide continuous waterfront public access in the area between Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets. 19. Build a trolley line from the Museum at the Beard Street Warehouses to Pier 41. 20. Reconstruct Coffey Pier as a recreational pier. 21. Improve Coffey Park and the Park House as a major public space. 22. Rezone the Van Brunt Corridor from R5 with a C1-3 overlay, M2-1, M1-1, M1-2; to R6A with a C1-3 commercial overlay. 23. Rezone the areas adjacent to Van Brunt Street from R5 to a contextual R5B zone. 24. Integrate a light manufacturing buffer of M1 between areas zoned for residential and heavy manufacturing uses. The Revere Sugar site should be rezoned to M1 as a buffer. 25. The "greening" of Red Hook should be promoted by DEP. 26. Sidewalks should be built and maintained throughout Red Hook. 27. Bus shelters with route directions and schedules should be built. 28. The following buildings and sites should be landmarked: Christ Child Church; Visitation Church; Beard Street Warehouses; Erie Basin; Grain Terminal; Red Hook Pool and Recreation Area; Coffey Park; Red Hook Houses; New York Shipyard; New York Dock Warehouses; 202- 240 Coffey Street; 353 Van Brunt Street; 205-217 Conover Street; 174 Beard Street; and 203-207 Van Brunt Street. IDENTIFIED STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 1. Acquire new public commitment in funds and programming. 2. Continue the specific planning processes necessary to achieve goals and objectives. 3. Partner with agencies whose cooperation is necessary for implementation, including: NYC Housing Authority; Brooklyn Borough President; Department of Buildings; Department of Business Services; Department of City Planning; Department of Environmental Conservation; Department of Environmental Protection; Department of Employment; Department of Health; Department of Sanitation; Department of Transportation; Department of Parks and Recreation; Department of Youth Services; Economic Development Corporation; Department of Housing Preservation and Development; Landmarks Commission; Metropolitan Transit Authority; Private Sector; Mayor/City Council; Board of Education; Brooklyn Public Library; New York City Housing Authority; Port Authority of NY and NJ; Urban Development Corporation. PARTICIPATORY PROCESS In the spring of 1992, Community Board 6 established an ad hoc Sub-Committee of the Board that would be responsible for facilitating the process of planning for and developing a written 197- a Plan for Red Hook. Residents and community-based civic organizations had petitioned the Community Board to undertake and provide leadership in coordinating and overseeing the planning process. The Sub-Committee relied on the history of expressed needs of the residents and stakeholders of Red Hook through a study of District Needs statements resulting from annual public hearings held by the Community Board. Numerous 197-a Sub-Committee meetings were held within the community of Red Hook. An excess of fifty public meetings coordinated by the Community Board’s 197-a Committee were held throughout the community while the plan was being drafted, community input was welcomed throughout this process. PARTNERS Red Hook Tenants Association; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development; Red Hook Historical Society; Beard Street Association; Red Hook Civic Association; Positively Red Hook; Pier 41; Kentler International Drawing Space; Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Red Hook Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.; South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation; Allegro