Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten, at 236 President Street. Image credit: LPC.

Carroll Gardens newest landmarks are a preservation of a rich history of service to the neighborhood. On September 18, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved individual landmark designation of the Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten at 236 President Street and adjacent 238 President Street House in the Carroll Gardens community in Brooklyn. The approvals came following strong appeal from the community to designate the properties as landmarks in order to preserve not only their rich cultural history and architectural heritage, but to help shield them from the threat of redevelopment. (read more…)

Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten. Image credit: LPC.

Two adjoining buildings from different eras with shared history to be considered together as an individual City landmark. Landmarks voted to add two buildings to its calendar for consideration as individual landmarks at the Commission’s April 10, 2018, meeting. The buildings are the 238 President Street House and the adjoining Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten at 236 President Street. The structures stand in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. (read more…)

320 Court Street in Carroll Gardens

City Council reacted to application’s inaccurate architectural renderings and restaurant’s history of noise complaints. On August 22, 2012, the City Council denied Buschenschank restaurant’s application for an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 320 Court Street between Degraw and Sackett Streets in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The application called for 24 tables and 48 chairs fronting Court Street.

At the Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee hearing, a representative of local Council Member Brad Lander and a representative of Brooklyn Community Board 6 testified in opposition. In a statement read by his policy director, Michael Freedman-Schnapp, Council Member Lander urged his colleagues to deny the application. Lander noted that Buschenschank’s application to the City’s Department of Consumer Affairs had inaccurately measured the sidewalk width and had not provided enough pedestrian space between a bike rack and the proposed outdoor cafe. In addition, Lander stated that more than two dozen noise complaints about the restaurant had been registered with 311, and that the NYPD had issued the restaurant a noise violation. (read more…)

Separate public and private proposals impacted eight lots left out of the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street rezoning. On April 28, 2011, the City Council approved independent proposals by the Department of City Planning and a private developer, Marshall Sohne, to rezone portions of Carroll Street between Columbia and Van Brunt Streets in Brooklyn’s Columbia Street Waterfront District. The two proposals impacted portions of the north and south side of Carroll Street that were not included in the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street Rezoning plan approved by the City in 2009. 6 CityLand 153 (Nov. 15, 2009).

Planning’s proposal covered six lots on the south side of Carroll Street. Five of the lots are developed with late nineteenth century rowhouses, while the sixth lot was once occupied by a similar residential building. The five rowhouses were the subject of a broader 2007 private rezoning that would have replaced the M1-1 zoning with an R6 district. Due to a technical omission, however, Planning requested that the City Council remove the lots from the plan. The current rezoning extended an adjacent R6B district to the six lots to reflect the neighborhood’s residential character. (read more…)