Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Last Night: Park Slope Civic Council Forum Dedicated to Guskind

3 Comments

The Park Slope Civic Council met last night at Old First Dutch Reformed Church on Seventh Aveue for a forum on expanding the Park Slope historic district. The event called, A Question of Character: Expanding the Park Slope Historic District, included architectural historian, Francis Morrone and  Kate Daly, an executive at the  New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Ken Freeman, president of the Park Slope Civic Council, decided to dedicate the meeting to Robert Guskind, founder of the popular blog, Gowanus Lounge. I asked him why:

"Bob was a friend of mine. He was a friend of the Civic Council, a friend of the neighborhood, a friend of Park Slope…His was an observant voice with a critical eye. He was a Brooklynite's Brooklynite. I think we're going to miss him. I dedicated the session to him because when he received my email announcement about it a few weeks ago he called and told me he'd like to help. 'I'm a huge believer in historic preservation,' he told me. He said he was a huge supporter and happy to help in any way."

The forum was the culmination of months of work, research and outreach into the viability of expanding Park Slope's historic district, which was originally landmarked in 1973. Freeman said there is the sense among the Civic Council and other civic groups that significant portions of Park Slope were left out and may merit additional protection.

Freeman explained that there is no specific proposal on the table as to where and what areas should be protected. At this stage, the Council has been spending a lot of time and effort to meet with neighborhood leaders to sound them out. They've also  launched an informative web site called, Save Park Slope.

The purpose of last night's forum was to spell out the issues and bring the public in so that could air their questions and concerns.  Approximately 100 people gathered in the sanctuary of the church.

3 thoughts on “Last Night: Park Slope Civic Council Forum Dedicated to Guskind”

  3. Hey OTBKB,
    Actually our name is “Save the Slope” and the address is:
    http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/
    Bob was a great guy, definitely a tease… and we have the honor of being the butt of one of his last jokes. When he published an announcement of our Forum, with its somewhat ponderous title “A Question of Character”, he told his readers, “Stop yawning! This is important!”
    -SaveTheSlope

Comments are closed.