Gowanus residents file suit to halt parole building
A coalition of Gowanus residents have filed suit against state and city agencies in an attempt to halt the construction of a 61,000-square-foot Brooklyn Parole Office at 15 Second Avenue, in the middle of the residential and industrial neighborhood.
The group, Gowanus United, claims that state agencies – the Office of General Services and Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) – didn’t perform required environmental reviews, and that then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city illegally waived city zoning laws for the site.
The Brooklyn Parole Office would serve all of Brooklyn’s 6,000-plus parolees, at a reported rate of around 400 parolees a day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, for mandated parole visits. It would employ a staff of 112 parole officers, 33 support staff, five bureau chiefs, three revocation specialists, one reentry services specialist and one regional director.