Hey neighbors -
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I published late last weekend and even later this week, as I play catch-up. It started with an unexpected trip to Montreal, a crash course in the Canadian healthcare system, a 24-hour bug, a crash landing on my chin while jogging after dark, another unexpected trip to Montreal, a canceled excursion out west for Thanksgiving that led to a quick pivot to a BK holiday that, I dare to say, was my favorite, ever.
Happy belated T-Day!
I thought about skipping this week, but TONIGHT ( @6P, Sacred Hearts Church 125 Summit St.) is an important meeting about the City’s Brooklyn waterfront “vision plan” (aka the BMT), the 122-acre redevelopment proposal from Columbia / Atlantic Ave south to the cruise terminal in Red Hook. This is your chance to tell the Mayor’s office what concerns you have about the potential impact of this project on your community and your life here in Brooklyn. This is not a shout from the rooftop, no one listens kinda meeting. The City has to register your concerns and incorporate them into its study plan.
Come one, come all! Please show your support for your neighbors who plan to testify or testify yourself! Here is a 1-page handout on the hearing process from Voices of the Waterfront and a more detailed testimony guide can be found here.
Even if you have not followed this proposed plan, you can testify about what you love about your BK neighborhood, as one of the study areas in the next phase is how this redevelopment proposal could impact “neighborhood character,” which includes socio-economics. As Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said not that long go - the people involved in this proposed plan DO NOT LIVE in our neighborhoods and it’s up to us to tell them what we love and what concerns we have.
As I have said before, there are positive aspects to this redevelopment project: a modernized port, light industrial space, low-to moderate-income housing, open space, a nascent Blue Highway, a fund for NYCHA housing, workforce training, among other things.
However, creating a new neighborhood the size and scope of Battery Park City with 20+ towers, 13-20,000 more residents, 3000+ add’t people commuting to the area, and a 400-room hotel, is not a project I can support (see post #2 for more) in its current form. Not to mention, 8500 new apartment units barely a mile away in Gowanus.
Instead of designing a plan for the waterfront that we know might be feasible, the City created a “vision” plan, regardless of the challenges we know exist today (lack of transportation or reliable bus service, traffic, outdated sewage pipes, flooding, industrial contamination, etc) without any satisfying solutions.
I re-read the “Draft Scope of Work” more closely this weekend and found some additional details to share that give me pause:
The main entrance and exit of the waterfront development (BMT) will be on Kane St and Congress St. PS29 is located on the corner of Kane St. and Henry, blocks from the waterfront, and Congress St., like Kane, is already crowded with cars traveling from Hicks to Court, and Clinton Street.
BMT North (between Atlantic and Degraw) will have 3800 apartment units in 20+ towers.
Pier 7 will have a max of 1000 units, including three towers taller than the Quay Towers (BBP) of around 40-50 stories (where the beer distributor is located).
Atlantic Basin near the BK Cruise Terminal with have a max of 2200 apartment units + a 400-room hotel
Three parking structures
Construction could start as early as 2026 and last for more than ten years.
70% of BMT streets are dedicated for pedestrians and cyclists - love this idea, but what does it mean for the streets east of the new development that are already too crowded?
Some of the impact studies set to happen in this next phase will only extend 400 ft from the waterfront (BMT) or in some cases five blocks or half-a-mile. This makes no sense when talking about pollution or parking or possible displacement of communities.
What happens if this development plan causes rents or property taxes to rise, making it difficult for people to afford their homes?
Hope to see you at the meeting! Please check out @ward6_Brooklyn for events in our neighborhoods this week.