[tjoff]

No. You can remove (with a bit of fiddling) it but to my knowledge you can't reclaim the space it takes (even if you could it would present other issues since it is much smaller than a 1-height widget).

How to remove it (not without complications): http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-disable-hide-goog...

[gilrain]

You can indeed reclaim the space with, for example, Nova Launcher. My home screen has 5 rows, as a result, and no spacing issues or anything.