Matt Sollars

Gowanus Project

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:53:47 +0000

The battle to redevelop Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal has been going on since the 1960’s. By then, the canal, once one of the state’s busiest waterways, had fallen largely into disuse. Many of the warehouses, factories and other industrial sites that lined the canal’s shores were abandoned.

Now, with residential real estate booming and the city’s population expanding, the area is on the verge of a new era of residential development. But as development plans go forward, every step requires a delicate balance of the city’s enormous need for housing, the environmental cleanup required on a century-old industrial waterway, and the ongoing needs of the businesses that remain in the area.

See the multimedia project on the canal development at mattsollars.com/gowanus.

Healing Fields Commemoration of 9/11

admin — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:25:33 +0000

Nearly 3,000 names, an American flag for each one. As first responders and family members read the 9/11 names at Floyd Bennett Field, a host of rain-soaked flags snapped in the wind behind them.

For the sixth commemoration of 9/11, with access to Ground Zero severely restricted, some New Yorkers created their own poignant backdrop to commemorate those who were lost.

With the help of the 9/11 Healing Field organization, volunteers from all over the city and state erected nearly 3,000 American flags – one for each person lost on 9/11 – at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

9/11 Healing Field organized the first such commemoration in Utah for the first anniversary in 2002. Since then, they have organized similar events all over the country. Healing Field then sells the flags, all of the proceeds go to local charities. This was the first time that a Healing Field had been created in New York City.

Organizers have committed to bringing the Healing Field back to New York City again next year.

Public Place: From Brownfield to Brownstone

admin — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:32:06 +0000

Public Place, a vacant lot between Smith Steet and the Gowanus Canal, is the latest parcel of land to enter Brooklyn’s heated affordable housing and development debate.

At a series of meetings in the community, which will continue next month, the city has begun finally to move towards developing the lot.

Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 announcement last month seemed to give a clue to the city’s thinking. A map of the Gowanus Rezoning, a highlight of Bloomberg’s plan, indicated that Public Place could be the site of a complex with over 200 units.

The site is contaminated after 100 years as a coal-fired gas plant. Keyspan has agreed to pony up some money to clean the site, to the tune of $62 million. But, some wonder if the site will be clean enough for the senior housing the city wants to put there.