The glistening white mega-yacht navigates the placid waters of the East River at dusk, against the backdrop of a jaw-dropping Manhattan skyline. It gently pulls into the Domino marina where it disgorges its impeccably GQ outfitted owner nursing a vodka martini—shaken, not stirred—in hand, and sporting a designer-label white dinner jacket. Accompanying him are assorted hangers-on and a phalanx of black-clad bodyguards wearing Armani shades. They will all take a short stroll to the VIP entrance of the new Domino Casino—the Big Apple’s Casino Royale.

The former Domino Sugar Factory is now the name of the casino, along with the convention center complex that extends all along the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront, built over the rubble of non-historical industrial buildings and other non-descript structures. The name “domino” conjures up games of chance—a “sweetener” of a different kind, frequently the name of the femme fatale in countless action movies, particularly for 007. This siren’s name represents the seduction of the gullible and weak-willed to financial ruin at Domino dockside, where the House always wins.

The newly renovated historical structure boasts an endless variety of VIP rooms, including the ultra-exclusive Sugar Daddy Suites, where wealthy yet insecure middle aged men can “entertain” their younger wives or mistresses. If you’re going to sell your soul, why not go first-class?

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Sad, all those yellow 660 T-shirts gone to waste. In case you haven’t followed the local news the past few years, a quick refresher. The New Domino developer Community Preservation Corporation Resources (CPCR) said they would go 50% better than the “encouraged” 20% affordable housing component in developing the old Domino Sugar site to build 30% or 660 affordable units. They claim to be friends of the community and committed to affordable housing. They also want the benefit of the 25-year property tax abatement, a perk for adding affordable housing. Oh, and let’s not forget they want government subsidies even though they’re a not-for-profit lender for affordable housing.

They really, really want to max out market rate housing on the eleven-acre waterfront/upland site. Project Manager Susan Pollock stated repeatedly in community meetings that in order to build this “generous” amount of affordable housing, huge zoning changes—vastly beyond those approved in the Williamsburg-Greenpoint 2005 waterfront rezoning—would be required. This translated into 16-story buildings upland (whereas the 2005 rezoning calls for no higher than six on upland blocks facing Kent Ave.), and 40-story giants on the waterfront parcel negotiated down to 34 stories, but still high enough to dwarf the towers of the Williamsburg Bridge.

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At the conclusion of last night’s special hearing in Manhattan on a proposed amendment to the Loft Law that would make it more difficult for many loft dwelling artists to qualify for protection under the law, Loft Board member Chuck DeLaney thanked the people who packed the chamber, the great majority of whom were loft dwellers who’d come to testify against the proposed rule.

“You were very effective today in making clear to the Board how important this is to you,” said DeLaney. “The Loft Board is going to defer this discussion and table voting. We are going to extend the comment period and possibly hold another hearing.”

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A year before her death at age 90, the celebrated urban planning activist Jane Jacobs wrote a letter (dated April 15, 2005) to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, expressing her thoughts about the 2005 rezoning of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods. A copy was recently obtained by WG News + Arts (from an unnamed source).

We think that now is appropriate time to bring it to light, as tomorrow we face the latest rezoning on the waterfront, when the City Council of New York votes on the Domino Plan.
 

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Ms. Jacobs, a world-renowned scholar of good and balanced growth in cities, is currently in the news because of a coveted citation in her name. Last week, a Jane Jacobs Medal was awarded to the the founders of Friends of the High Line.

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The original breaking news, investigative reporting on this story was first done by Benjamin Lozovsky, and followed quickly by stories appearing in several other New York City newspapers.

In the next few days, the City Council of New York City will hold a final vote that determines the fate of the old Domino Sugar factory, a massive 19th century industrial site along the Williamsburg waterfront. The for-profit developers CPC Resources (CPCR) have campaigned long and hard, spending close to three million dollars on lobbying efforts, to win the community residents and politicians over to their high rise luxury housing proposal, on the promise of 660 affordable units, open space accessibility to the waterfront, and jobs. Approval of the plan would rezone the site from heavy industrial use to mixed-use (residential/commercial), and would allow the developers to build towers up to 34 stories high.

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