Gowanus, Brooklyn. | AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews Rezoning Gowanus now a consideration on de Blasio's housing agenda

After facing staunch community opposition to its zoning plans so far, the de Blasio administration is now proposing a neighborhood rezoning with the support of the local City Council member.

City Hall intends to rezone Brooklyn's rapidly gentrifying Gowanus area, which abuts Park Slope and is home to an infamously polluted canal, officials said Monday night.


In the fall, the Department of City Planning will study the neighborhood before deciding whether to formally begin the process of rezoning it for more residential development.

Carl Weisbrod, the city's planning commissioner, issued a statement acknowledging a plan the local Council members and residents devised between 2013 and 2015, called "Bridging Gowanus." The analysis found many residents would embrace more residential development as long as some would be reserved for low- to middle-income tenants and the area's dwindling manufacturing and arts spaces would be preserved.

"We are enthusiastic about working with them and the community to create a thriving neighborhood where an appropriate mix of uses supports an economically diverse population, offering cultural and economic opportunities for all," Weisbrod said.

Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Gowanus, is starting a round of community meetings to gather feedback. The first open house will be held next Tuesday night.

Lander has backed the mayor's controversial housing plans throughout their respective tenures and has made clear he would like a rezoning in Gowanus.

"It's not easy for a community to plan for the future amidst change," Lander said in a statement. "But the need and the opportunity are clear. … Working together, we can insure a sustainable, mixed-use, creative and inclusive future for Gowanus."

"We see tremendous potential here for new affordable housing, and to secure and expand good manufacturing jobs," de Blasio spokesman Austin Finan said in an email. "It's also a chance to give nearby Fourth Avenue a second look, and see if we can realize some of the opportunities missed there years ago."

Fourth Avenue was rezoned in 2003, when de Blasio represented that area in the City Council. He tried to get the Bloomberg administration to require affordable housing. When he was unsuccessful in that effort, he supported the rezoning anyway, allowing for the changes he now laments.

The formerly industrial Gowanus neighborhood has become a popular place to live in recent years, and developers have been flocking to the area to build luxury housing.

While the specifics of any rezoning take about seven months to negotiated among city officials, community boards, borough presidents and the City Council, Lander's support is an early boost.

Councilman Rafael Espinal held out on fully embracing the plan to rezone East New York earlier this year, forcing the city to cough up a significant number of concessions, though not enough to appease widespread opposition in the community.

A proposal to rezone the Bay Street Corridor on Staten Island immediately drew concerns from Councilwoman Debi Rose about the availability of affordable housing and criticisms from the borough president, Jimmy Oddo, about the proposed height of new buildings.

And nearly every community board and borough president opposed the mayor's plan to enable more low- to middle-income housing through two zoning changes, which passed the Council in March.