As we predicted, Quadriad is back.

Henry Wollman of Quadriad made a brief informational presentation to Community Board 1 tonight. Mr. Wollman professed his fondness for the board, and stated that the as-of-right project is being permitted now and will start construction “next week”. That is the five-story project that requires no rezoning and no community review.

Mr. Wollman also said that they will be filing an application “next week” for their “New Strategy” proposal. That is the 22-story project that requires a rezoning and community review. The “New Strategy” project promises 30% affordable housing in exchange for a 165% density bonus (by contrast, the as-of-right project could provide 20% affordable housing and get a 30% density bonus – but Quadriad isn’t offering that – its their bonus or no affordable housing).

Mr. Wollman also mentioned other community benefits that he regretted weren’t discussed last summer – benefits such as “community retail” and “community employment”. Presumably, these community benefits were discussed in detail in the many briefing books issued by Quadriad over the past few months.

No word on when Quadriad’s rezoning application will reach the Community Board for an actual hearing.

What’s left of the building, at least. The demolition fence is up at 227 Grand Street, as seen above. What’s interesting about this site is not that it will be (yet another) finger building, nor that it will be (yet another) Karl Fisher joint. What’s worth noting here is the building’s history, dating back to the early days of Williamsburgh.

J. C. Gandar was a civic and literary leader of early Williamsburgh. His bookstore (pictured above) was located at the corner of Grand and Fifth Streets1 (Fifth Street is now Driggs Avenue). The building, which probably dates to the 1840s or early 1850s, is distinguished by its curved front – about the only identifying feature left on the building (see below). W. H. Gandar sold the property on “Grand st, n e corner Fifth” in 1874. The building survived in its original form into the 1950s – at which point it was home to Whalen Brothers’ clothing store. In the 1940s, it is pictured as three stories tall, with a one-story extension along Driggs (where the arched openings are now). So it is relatively recently that the building was cut down to one story. Still, the curved front remains – for a short while longer.

1. The address on the advertisement above (156 Grand Street) reflects the original Grand Street numbering system, which had the even numbered buildings on the north side of the street. Other versions of this print add the street names on the side of the building: Fifth Street is on the left facade and Grand Street is on the right.↩

Mayor Bloomberg, looking for answers in Greenpoint.

So the Mayor came to Greenpoint, and Greenpoint (mostly) behaved itself.

The show was organized by North Brooklyn Development Corp., and was not open to general questions. As it was, fewer than half the planned questions were put to the Mayor. (As predicted, there were plenty of soap boxes mounted, and most questions went on too long (mine included) but NBDC did a good job of keeping things moving and people (mostly) on message.)

It may have been overlooked, but if there was a single newsworthy item, it was that City Planning has finally completed its contextual zoning study for Greenpoint & Williamsburg. This is something the Community Board has been working with DCP on for over a year now, so we are anxious to see the details. DCP Commissioner Amanda Burden did announce that all of Greenpoint would be getting contextual zoning (as recommended by the Community Board). That means no more finger buildings, no more community facility bonuses, and more opportunities for inclusionary (affordable) housing.

Elsewhere, the DOB discussion focused entirely on the issue of construction safety, as illustrated by the case of one homeowner whose foundation was undermined two years ago and is still homeless. DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster had, frankly, the usual response – we have more inspectors, new special enforcement teams, the ability to hold contractors criminally liable, blah, blah, blah. Bloomberg did step forward and promised to get involved in this particular case “next week”1.

Unfortunately, none of the larger issues revolving around DOB’s lack of enforcement were even raised – lax zoning enforcement, enforcement of stop work orders, issuance of after-hours variances, trucks running into neighboring buildings while pouring concrete on a job with a stop work order in effect, and so on. But the highlight of this segment was the resounding hiss elicited by the mention of everyone’s favorite architect.

On the question of displacement, the issue was largely framed by a single case – 202 Franklin Street. HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan promised to look into whether the Department could use emergency funds to effect repairs to the building (and at Bloomberg’s prompting, promised an answer tomorrow).

The G train is not a city issue, so it was easy for Bloomberg to make promises there. He promised to call MTA Director Elliot Sander tomorrow (though he conceded he might not get through until next Tuesday), and to raise the issue with Governor Spitzer, also tomorrow.

That’s as far as NBDC got on its agenda, and that’s when the, ahem, more passionate and vocal members of the community felt compelled to speak out. Bloomberg did stay on for a lightning round of questions from NBDC, in which we learned that Parks has allocated $200 million for capital projects in north Brooklyn and an additional $100 million to acquire parks property at the Bushwick inlet site (a contentious issue, as some of that property is owned by the non-profit Monitor Museum).

And, I finally got to meet Miss Heather. I’m sure she has a slightly less wonkish take on the evening’s festivities.

1. Bloomberg showed his mettle as a manager, constantly asking for goals or deadlines. Commissioners were put on the spot and asked to meet specific deadlines in getting back to questioners, meeting certain goals, etc. And the Mayor himself promised to follow up on some items personally. Schtick or not (and I get the impression that this is really how he works), it was effective and impressive.↩

The Mayor is coming to Greenpoint to talk about Greenpoint. As we said earlier, this is an opportunity not to be squandered. We will have the Mayor for a very brief amount of time – probably an hour or so – so this is no time for soap boxes, breast beating, grandstanding and hyperbole.

Get to the point.

Stay on message.

And the message should be this: the city needs to do a better job of managing change.

There are going to be a host of issues thrown at the Mayor. If there is one theme that ties most of these issues together, I think it is this: we need to do a better job of managing change and growth in Greenpoint. The rezoning and redevelopment of Greenpoint have brought tremendous changes, and no one wants to stop this process or turn back the clock. At the same time, the community needs help managing this growth and we are not always getting that from city agencies. Issues of construction safety, zoning, transportation, parks and open space, the environment, housing and industry – all of these are brought on by, or made worse by, the incredible pace of change we are undergoing in this neighborhood. If the rezoning and redevelopment of Greenpoint is going to be a success (and we should certainly want it to be) the city needs to step up and work with the community to manage change.