Gowanus Group, augmented with a well-known environmental lawyer files suit against rezoning plan

Gowanus group, augmented by well-known environmental lawyer, files suit against rezoning plan

A bridge that crosses the Gowanus Canal shows the area as it would look under the rezoning plan. Rendering courtesy of Department of City Planning

After years of debate, the Gowanus Rezoning Plan was passed by the City Council in a resounding vote this November. Brad Lander, then-Councilmember and now Comptroller, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy (now Fifth Avenue Committee) and Steve Levin, then-Councilmember, were among the active supporters of the plans.

According to, Eric Adams (then-Borough President and now Mayor) was elected August of that same year. EagleArticles, he also stated that he supported the plan, but with the caveat of providing nearly $300 million in capital financing for NYCHAs Wyckoff Houses and Wywanus Houses.

However, the opposition to the rezoning plan, particularly the community coalition Voice of Gowanus has not been dormant.

The group was joined by friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus. Residents of the area and friends filed a new lawsuit, vigorously attacking the illegal rezoning and highlighting numerous violations of state and federal environmental law.

Voice ofGowanus is represented by Richard Lippes. Richard Lippes is a veteran of the Three Mile Islandenvironmental legal disputes and the Love Canal. The suit is elevated to a higher level due to what the group called the unique combination of environmental injustices and health risks that has not been addressed by Gowanus government officials.

Residents of Gowanus rallied for a moratorium to neighborhood rezoning in 2019. Scott Enman photo of Eagle

I have tried many environmental law cases over my years as a lawyer. However, theGowanusrezoning is a very egregious set if violations of the law. This case is one of the most complicated I have ever seen. The number of failures to comply with federal and state laws is staggering. This is not your typical environmental case. It rises to another order of magnitude entirely.”

The suit focuses on what it calls the failure of the Gowanus Rezoning to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act. It also claims that the rezonings environmental impacts statement violated the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act and Environmental Conservation Law, as well as the New York State Historic Protection Act.

Gowanusisn’t just any neighborhood. It is home to a unique and complex combination of toxic pollution, flooding, and problems with sewage overflow that has plagued our most vulnerable citizens for decades. We tried to warn the city officials that they were doing something deeply wrong, as did Congressmember Nydia Valazquez and the EPA, but the city refused to listen. Instead, they sold out to developers, putting thousands unjustly at danger. They should be in court.

Velazquez, along with Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, called for a re-do of the environmental impact study to be done on the rezoning after Hurricane Ida. According to an Anonymized Report, they claimed that the study failed to adequately account for the effects of climate change in Gowanus and combined sewer flow into the canal. Eagle Article at the time

According to the new lawsuit, City Planning failed to file a Findings Statement regarding the proposedGowanusrezoning as required by state law. An environmental impact statement alone is not sufficient to comply with the law, the lawsuit says, and the city chose to treatGowanusdifferently than other neighborhoods while violating the law.

Additionally, several federal and state agencies, such as U.S. EPA, were not formally included as Involved Agents in the rezoning process. The lawsuit also charges that the rezoning did not engage in federal and state historic preservation review procedures.

The EPA has confirmed the migration of toxic chemicals from the site of a former manufactured-gas plant that was approved for housing and a school. This was according to Steve Marcus of Voice ofGowanus. He is also a member of EPAsGowanusSuperfund Community Advisory group.

Supporters of the Rezoning Plan have stated that it benefits the community by providing upto 3,000 affordable apartments, substantial investments for Wyckoff Gardens, Gowanus Houses and improvements to our public spaces, drainage infrastructure, and other amenities.

Gabrielle Fialkoff, then-Parks Commissioner, stated that the Gowanus plan was built on parks and public equity and offers a model for green urbanism not only for New York City, but for all of America.