No Land Grab

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It didn't seem like a big deal when Bob Guskind posted a rendering of a building for a site on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens several months ago. But within days, other bloggers in the Brooklyn neighborhood had zeroed in on the property. They uncovered fresh details, including the developer's name and the luxury residential project's height, 70 feet, which would dwarf the surrounding brownstones.

Dubbed “the heavy metal building” by Carroll Gardens bloggers, the development quickly became a magnet for local groups and officials determined to preserve the neighborhood's low-rise charm. In response to the opposition, developer Bill Stein has replaced the original architect and modified the design.

“It is amazing how a small community was galvanized after reading one post,” says Mr. Guskind, whose blog, The Gowanus Lounge, was the first to carry an image of the building. “Three years ago, this wouldn't have happened.”

It's a new day for online community activism. According to Katia Kelly, a longtime Carroll Gardens resident and the sole blogger on Pardon Me for Asking, the movement's strength lies in networking. Cross-linking posts lets one person's message spread almost instantly. Blogs are also gaining power as their content makes it into mainstream media.

“We used to have to beg papers for coverage on local issues, and if we published anything ourselves it would be waved off as a rumor,” says Lumi Michelle Rolley, founder of No Land Grab, a four-year-old, Atlantic Yards-centric blog. “Blogs are now a natural fit for activists.”

Politicians are also in listening mode. Democratic Councilman Bill de Blasio, who represents Carroll Gardens, recently began holding monthly “teas” to meet with bloggers and other locals. Late last month, he proposed an immediate study to possibly downzone the area.

That was good news for Triada Samaras. Within days of seeing the picture of the development at 360 Smith St., she and half a dozen other fiftysomething neighbors formed the Carroll Gardens Coalition to Respectfully Develop. Among the details the group has uncovered is that the project will benefit from a zoning rule quirk that allows it to be larger than normal.

CORD has gathered more than 3,000 signatures online calling for city officials to recognize that a sizable number of residents want a moratorium on construction in the neighborhood.

“The land-use and development process has not been transparent,” Mr. Guskind says. “Blogging has changed that.”