Existing households living in the Brooklyn Gowanus study area are by and large more affluent and socioeconomically resilient than most other New York City neighborhoods. When measured in terms of socioeconomic, household composition, demographic and minority status, and even health outcomes, the Gowanus study area is a much more socially resilient neighborhood when compared to the rest of the city. The city’s current housing crisis and the need to address it through a fair share approach, largely justifies the proposed actions currently undergoing the ULURP process.
The exceptions to the aforementioned conditions are the residents of NYCHA Wyckoff and Gowanus houses, who certainly deserve special attention and commitments to bring the properties and buildings back to a state of good repair. This is something that should be guaranteed throughout this process.
With the exception of NYCHA, the Gowanus neighborhood is affluent and is rapidly becoming even more affluent with time. The estimated average (mean) household income in the study area is $160,514, which is over $70,000 higher than that of Brooklyn overall ($87,330), and over $60,000 higher than that of New York City overall ($99,261). Average income in the study area has increased by approximately 29.1 percent since 2010, far outpacing growth in average household incomes in Brooklyn (18.8 percent) and New York City (8.6 percent). The estimated median household income in the study area ($111,458) is nearly twice as high as that of Brooklyn ($56,941) and New York City ($61,766). Median household incomes in the study area and comparison geographies follow similar trends as average household incomes.
The increasing population and a citywide housing shortage has put pressure on the residential markets in the neighborhoods surrounding Gowanus, including Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill, resulting in rising rents and property values. The historic districts and low density zoning surrounding the neighborhood are artificially constraining housing supply in a way that externalizes housing cost burdens onto lower income residents, exacerbating housing scarcity in the area and for the rest of the city.
These pressures are manifested in residential rents, which have steadily increased in the study area and have surpassed the rest of the city since 2010. Median rent in the study area has increased by 20.6 percent and average rent has increased by 16.3 percent since 2010. Median and average rent in the study area are approximately $600 higher than those in Brooklyn and New York City overall.
In the future without the Proposed Actions it is anticipated that the existing trends of increasing rents and increasing household income in the study area would continue. In the No Action condition, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) would not be mapped in the Project Area. Instead of rent restricted units, hundreds of market rate units (most of them likely high end rentals) would be built without any affordability requirements. Because development in the surrounding neighborhoods is limited by zoning and historic districts, luxury residential development has concentrated along the few areas in Gowanus that allow residential uses, such as along 4th Avenue. Such concentration of new luxury development would most likely continue.
Under the Proposed Actions, both market and affordable units would increase, due in large part to the application of the MIH program to the Project Area. The proposed actions would result in a net increase of 8,495 units over the no action condition. The conservative estimate in the DEIS also projects that approximately 2,471 units would be affordable under MIH.
In the With Action condition, the average household income of new residents would be less than the average household income of existing residents in the study area. In this scenario the average household income of the incoming population would be approximately $122,310— approximately $38,000 less than the average household income of the existing study area population. The proposed actions would partially mitigate trends that otherwise result in an even more exclusive neighborhood and segregated city.
The residents of Gowanus have the ability to contribute their fair share to the housing needs of thousands of new yorkers. The city’s current housing crisis and the need to prioritize a fair share approach, largely justify the proposed actions currently evaluated. The city and the communities representing the area of Gowanus need to get the details right, including resources to improve conditions at NYCHA and further reducing minimum parking requirements. But by far and large this framework is the right one.
We urge Community Boards 2 and 6 to approve and move forward with this consequential decision.
