Save Gowanus Living

Tag: Brooklyn Community Board 6

  • Like a Good Neighbor? Hardly. Part 1

    A very optimistic member of our Brooklyn Community Board 6 told homeowners that he expects developers to work with their neighbors. Let’s see how that is working out. Hint: it starts out small and gets dangerous.

    “JUST THE NEIGHBOR”

    Residents of the block got an early idea of how little the developer’s people planned to work with the neighbors when an employee showed up at one of the vacant properties. When the employee couldn’t get into the building, he entered the yard in the home next door. When the homeowner stopped the man from just walking onto their property, the employee told someone on the phone “oh, it’s just the neighbor.” So, neighbors are just a nuisance that get in the way.

    DEADLY TO WILDLIFE

    We have always had grey squirrels in the larger backyards on the block and visiting other backyards. The little critters are a protected state species, so it is illegal to kill them in New York City or remove them from your property and dump them somewhere else. Yet, some men showed at 246 7th Street on May 29, 2026 and left the back door open over Memorial Day weekend. They returned on Monday, June 1 to close the door.

    After the crew left, people realized that all of the squirrels in the area were gone. The DEC website did not list any permits filed nor a Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator hired for the squirrel removal. Did the workers kill them? Dump them somewhere else? No one knows, but they are gone.

    After that was the poor rabid/sick raccoon in the backyard of 246 7th Street. People contacted 311 for help, but officials couldn’t get into the property, so the raccoon died in the vacant house. The stench was noticeable for days. R.I.P., Rocky Raccoon.

    TRASH

    Mounds of trash outside 416 4th Avenue

    While homeowners on the block must keep sidewalks clean or receive a fine from the NYC Department of Sanitation, Bravon Capital in New Jersey thought they were special and allowed people to just dump trash in front of 416 4th Avenue for weeks.

    They received a Sanitation violation for failure to clean up on June 17, 2026, but trash remained.

    Trash in the tree pit in front of 418 4th Avenue, Brooklyn

    Since Bravon Capital also wasn’t cleaning the tree pit in front of 418 4th Avenue, next door to the trash pile, they got another Sanitation Violation.

    CHEAP AND DIRTY ASBESTOS REMOVAL THREATENED THE NEIGHBORHOOD

    Photo from Armuntang

    Asbestos is a mineral composed of fibers. Because of its fiber strength and heat resistance, asbestos is a very useful in building construction materials for insulation and fire resistance. You can find asbestos in roofing shingles, floor and ceiling tiles, car parts, and fire-resistant fabrics. For a deep dive, you can click on this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos

    Unfortunately, sharp asbestos fibers can lead to breathing difficulties or even cancer if they are inhaled when asbestos-containing materials are damaged or removed. That’s why the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has strict rules about removing asbestos safely.

    Ignoring those rules, a crew started chopping off asbestos-containing roofing material at 244A 7th Street and 416 4th Avenue and stuffing the pieces in trash bags- no trained monitor, no containment with plastic sheeting, no permit displayed, no foam to keep the asbestos from escaping into the air, not even protective clothing for the crew.

    The crew spreading asbestos in the air with improper roof removal.
    This is not how you do asbestos removal

    Neighbors filed complaints with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but it seemed like a game to Bravon’s crew: ignore DEP violations, hide from neighbors taking photos, keep the door to 416 4th Avenue padlocked while workers were on the roof, ignore requests from Department of Buildings for inspections, and work on a holiday.

    DEP inspectors finally caught them releasing asbestos into the air and the developer had to hire a real asbestos-removal company for the remaining 2 roofs. Here is the new crew putting up containment sheets and preparing to safely remove the rest of the roof at 418 4th Avenue with foam and protective equipment for the workers.

    Workers putting up containment sheets for asbestos removal.
    The new company preparing to remove the rest of the asbestos-containing roofing materials.

    With the roofs gone, the neighborhood now has to deal with unsafe buildings, which is where the Department of Buildings comes in, but that is for the next post.

  • Nature? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Nature When There’s Money to Be Made

    the greenspace created by our back yards
    Some of the greenspace created by the individual back yards of our houses.

    WHY DO WE HAVE BACKYARDS?

    Housing designers in 19th century New York City planned houses with backyards that would make a communal greenspace as a reaction to the overcrowding, disease, and pollution of the slums created by the Industrial Revolution. Such open-center blocks maximized sunlight and ventilation to prevent the spread of disease; they were also thought to make urban living less stressful.

    Although the original designers did not have to worry about climate change, the backyards also help to lower the temperature of the neighborhood and absorb excess rainwater. In a sea of concrete and asphalt, these back yards also provide a haven for wildlife like birds, butterflies, squirrels, and the disappearing bees. Real-estate developers don’t care.

    WHAT WILL DIE FOR ANOTHER LUXURY BUILDING?

    Here is just some of the nature that will die so that the rich can enjoy their roof terraces in the sky and in-house wine bars in the planned 85-unit luxury apartment building called the 416 4th Avenue Project. T

    First up is the neighborhood tree, a decades-old apple tree that provides pollen for bees, space for wildlife, and food for the same critters; it will be the first to die because it is in the way of the proposed building.

    A decades-old apple tree in bloom.
    Our decades-old apple tree that will be cut down for the 85-unit luxury housing development.

    Rose of Sharon trees, like these in bloom, grow in many yards, but they will also be ripped out for profit.

    A Rose of Sharon shrub.
    Rose of Sharon shrub that feeds more bees will be removed for a massive building in the greenspace.

    The plants in this garden on 4th Avenue will slowly die from lack of sunlight as the massive luxury apartment building throws neighboring backyards into permanent shade.

    Small space, but full of plants to feed bees and butterflies, cool the air, and absorb rainfall
    A blooming forsythia bush

    Forsythia to brighten the early Spring

    Pink flowers on a bleeding heart plant

    Bleeding heart in bloom sprinkled with petals from the neighboring apple tree

    Rhododendron shrub with yellow blossoms.
    Rhododendron in bloom with hellebores beneath the pot.
    An azalea bush in glorious bloom.
    An azalea bush in full bloom

    All these plants will die- either cut down or dying slowly from lack of sunlight, but not to worry because tech bros paying $10,000/month and more in rent can have barbeques on the roof without ever encountering their neighbors or the wildlife that previouslycalled the greenspace home.

    MORE FLOODING?

    Located in the rainwater flood zone, the greenspace in our block also helps to absorb excess water during rainstorms, preventing nearby floods like the one pictured below; this is a necessary function since the city never built a large-enough sewer system to handle the structures that are already here.

    Flooding on 4th Avenue in 2023
    An example of the flooding on 4th Avenue and Carroll Street from September 2023. Photo by Joann Amitrano.

    WHERE ARE OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATVIES?

    At the same time that the City Council is allowing unfettered construction of luxury housing on 4th Avenue that will replace needed nature on our block, New York City officials say they are desperately trying to create more green space.

    Brooklyn Community Board 6, Council Member Hanif, Mayor Mamdani, please make this make sense. The excuse that “this is legal” doesn’t cut it.