[Left photo courtesy donflan/flickr; right photo courtesy Brownstoner]

The weekend storms, particularly Saturdays big blow, were not kind to Gowanus where manhole covers have been known to blow off spewing geysers of sewage into the streets. There are no reports of that this weekend, but there was plenty of rowboat potential, including stretches of Fourth Avenue where all those new condos are going up. The photo on the left comes from Ninth Street near the Smith-Ninth Station and the Gowanus Canal. The photo on the right is Fourth Avenue & Carroll Streets, where the water was almost thigh deep. Surf's up.
· After the Storm: Behold the Ninth St. Lagoon [GL]
· Over the Weekend, a Flood on Carroll Street [Brownstoner]

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There are two schools of new buildings on the boom Fourth Avenue corridor with the bricked out Novo Park Slope look being at one end and the new Karl Fischer revealed recently being at the other. The new building, which will be going up at Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street (formal address 202 8th St.) definitely falls into the latter category. It will actually be good friends with the Argyle, which is under construction. It comes from DJ Associates and will clock in with 12 stories and 43 apartments. Our tipster says the plans "show underground parking, gym/lounge on 1st floor, and two large outdoor garden spaces. they already poured a piece of the foundation so they have 421a," meaning buyers will still get a big property tax break. Brownstoner had an earlier, even glassier, version of the building a while back.
· Slope Getting a Big Hot Karl: Novo's Friend Revealed [Curbed]
· Curbed Price Chopper: Everything Left at Novo Park Slope [Curbed]

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[Rendering courtesy of dlandstudio]

This is a new rendering of the proposed Sponge Park along the Gowanus Canal. We have no idea what it's realistic plans are given that it would require a lot of privately-held property for which developers may have other plans. On the other hand, the Gowanus rezoning proposal would require an esplanade on both sides of the canal (when developers build). Regardless, the rendering does show what would appear to be sponge type plants in Sponge Park. It's called Sponge Park because the park itself is supposed to help keep the environmentally-challenged Gowanus clean. The design is from dlandstudio, which is also doing the Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park.

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Turning attention to places where cranes might someday collapse, the Department of City Planning finally showed its hand in Gowanus last night, unveiling its rezoning proposal. Like all such things, it's complicated, but it boils down to 25 blocks from an original 60 block study area. By leaving out the other territory, the city avoids a potentially bruising fight with those that want to preserve manufacturing. The proposal focuses on land on both sides of the Gowanus Canal that developers have targeted for condo development. (Including the Toll Brothers, who are looking for their own rezoning ahead of the bigger neighborhood one.) Highlights from the 25 blocks include buildings up to 12 stories tall in a "Waterfront South" district and up to 8 stories in a "Waterfront North" zone with a 40' wide public esplanade on both side of the canal where people may someday sip lattes while watching outdoor enthusiasts paddle down a cleaned up canal in kayaks...uh....where people can walk along the canal in front of the new condos. (Alas, the compelling Sponge Park proposal is an outside idea.) The rezoning would also cover a stretch of Fourth Avenue, Third Avenue and Union Streets, allowing 12 story buildings on Fourth Ave and eight story buildings along Third Ave. and Union Streets. In other places, there would be five-six story buildings. (A local City Council Member has asked for a ban on building hotels in the "manufacturing" zones.) The city hopes to have final plans for New Look Gowanus approved sometime in the second half of next year.
· 25 Blocks Worth of Change in Gowanus [GL]

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With the Gowanus rezoning about to hit the fan tonight in terms of the city's actual proposal for the neighborhood, there's also an idea that could bring its hotel boom to a grinding halt. City Council Member Bill de Blasio will be holding forth before the big rezoning reveal to insist that City Planning ban the building of more hotels in parts of the neighborhood that will be left zoned for manufacturing use. Gowanus currently has seven hotels open or under construction, including everyone's favorite, Hotel Le Bleu. As in other areas, there are concerns that hotels--which can be built in districts zone for manufacturing--will push out businesses. There's also concern that the Gowanus hotels could end up renting rooms by the hour. Per a press release: "While we are in the midst of a hotel boom, at some point that will taper off and some of these hotels will not make it or even worse, will turn into 'hot sheet' motels in order to stay afloat." There are hundred of hotel rooms going up in Gowanus, including a 9-story, 134-room Fairfield Inn. It seems like only yesterday when the Gowanus Holiday Inn Express was blazing the trail.
· De Blasio Slams 'Hot Sheet' Gowanus Hotel Boom [Brownstoner]
· An End to the Gowanus Hotel District? [GL]

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Had this "Please Pardon the Inconvenience" sign been placed in a Manhattan playground, it probably would have been followed by something like "while we remodel and serve you with an even greater playground," even if that's a lie. Also, the playground would have probably been closed. But they do things a little differently in Gowanus. Children of Brooklyn, be afraid.
· Signs You Don’t Want to See at the Playground [Gowanus Lounge]

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Are Brooklyn developer websites for controversial projects the latest thing? Well, the Toll Brothers have just launched a site for their 460-unit development on the Gowanus Canal. It intends to give the developer a kinder, gentler face in a neighborhood where there has been what could politely be called some hostility. Per a release accompanying the launch of the site, tollbrothersgowanus.com, it "will provide updates and information to the Gowanus community throughout the planning, zoning review and, if the project is approved in ULURP, construction phases, and will allow members of the public to send comments and suggestions to the development team." Last month, the developer of the 360 Smith Street project also launched a site to keep residents posted, albeit much later in the process. The site has sections outlining the project plans, a "calender of events" (currently listing events that happened in March), a press section and a contact form so that residents can, you know, make suggestions to the firm.

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So, this is an image of what the Smith-9th Street station in Brooklyn, which is the closest the subway comes to Red Hook, will look like after it's shut down for a couple of years and renovated as part of an overall plan to keep the entire structure from collapsing due to rot. There's no updated word on the plan, which was floated last year. There might also be a restaurant up there somewhere beyond that metal hive-looking thing.

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[Left photo courtesy of Denton Taylor; click to expand]

Another one has come down on Fourth Avenue on the Gowanus side of the Park Slope-Gowanus DMZ, aka Brooklyn's "New Park Avenue." This property, that was formerly an auto repair shop whose owner had thought about opening a Red Lobster on the site, sold last year for $3.75M and is being marketed for 20,000 square feet of commercial space. It's especially interesting because of its illustrious neighbors. No, not the Staples and Pep Boys, but Shaya Boymelgreen's (still unoccupied) Novo Park Slope and the fascinating Hotel Le Bleu, which is on the right of photo. Out of frame, is The Crest. Something coming that will, perhaps, blend with the Fourth Avenue streetscape.
· Interesting Question: Does Brooklyn's "New Park Avenue" Suck? [Curbed]
· Park Slope Goes Downhill to Fourth Avenue [Curbed]

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