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Judge Katherine Levine (Levine via Facebook; Getty) If a city agency makes a small change to its website, will a “usual Joe Schmo in Gowanus” know what that means? That, more or less, was the subject of a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday on a lawsuit that seeks to stop the Brooklyn neighborhood’s rezoning from moving forward. Kings County Supreme Court Judge Katherine Levine didn’t rule on that issue directly, but agreed to partially lift a temporary restraining order on the rezoning, allowing the Department of City Planning to release the remainder of the proposal’s application. She said she is “predisposed” to allow the application to be certified, which would officially kickstart the city’s public land-use review process, but called on the city to find ways to ensure more people have access to virtual hearings held as part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. She floated the idea of installing public computers in the Park Slope Armory. ....
Getty Images A lawsuit arguing that the Gowanus rezoning effort is not providing enough opportunities for public input is actually more concerned with delaying the process until the next mayoral administration takes office, critics charge. “The object of the lawsuit isn’t to win, ultimately, in court. It’s to achieve a delay,” said Alec Schierenbeck, a Brooklyn Community Board 6 member. “They want to run out the clock on this process and the current administration and the current council member.” Community groups Voice of Gowanus and Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus filed their suit against the city Friday in Kings County Supreme Court. Judge Donald Kurtz has granted them a temporary restraining order that will delay the process until at least Jan. 27, records show. The city had hoped to certify its uniform land use review application Jan. 19 which would have formally launched the rezoning’s public-review process, according to the lawsuit. ....