CM Lander Presents Interactive Webmap of Stalled Developments!

Please see the following message from 39th District Council Member Brad Lander:

I'm pleased to share with you a new web tool that we have launched for the 39th district: www.stalleddevelopment.com.

Many of you have talked to me about stalled development sites on your blocks - half-built structures, abandoned foundations, or vacant lots surrounded by plywood fencing. Too often, we've seen fences falling down onto sidewalks and loose construction debris blow in the wind. Many blocks have been turned into "moonscapes."

We need to take action to confront the problem - to make sure the sites are safe and secure, and to work together on longer-term solutions. Some sites are appropriate to become mixed-income or affordable housing. Some have violated our zoning rules and must be corrected. Some could provide pocket-parks or community gardens.

We thought the way to start was to get our community on the same (web)page about just what is going on at these stalled development sites. So we got right to work creating a new, interactive tool.

Stalled Development is interactive map of vacant, stalled or abandoned development sites in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, and Kensington. It allows you to both view pictures and information about the sites, and to leave comments on each one.

The survey of sites was conducted by volunteers: I want to give special thanks to Rick Luftglass, who led the effort, and to Neal Kronley. I'd also like to thank Michael Freedman-Schnapp, my policy director, who put the site together. We also used tips from dozens of district residents, as well as Department of Buildings records from 311 complaints, to create this list.

We are currently working to develop legislation and policy initiatives that would keep these sites safe, address the hazards and nuisances they pose to neighbors, and put them on a path to productive uses that are a benefit to community residents. You can more read about our plan for these sites here.

The new website got great press coverage this week, in the New York Times, the New York Post, Courier-Life, Brownstoner, the Real Deal, Curbed, and the Brooklyn Paper.

I hope you will use the site to keep us updated on the sites in your neighborhood.

Councilmember Brad Lander
39th Council District