Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation Met on Friday or When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro

By on November 10, 2014 2:49 pm in brooklyn bridge park

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation held a public meeting at St. Francis College Friday afternoon. On the agenda, planned housing at Pier 6. In attendance were members of People for Green Space Foundation as well as a member of Build Up NYC donning Lone Ranger-type masks and calling themselves “the Undisclosed 14″ in reference to the 14 developers bidding on the project (and giving Homer the a very loose reason for this post’s headline). To date, the developer’s identities have not been announced.

Brooklyn Eagle: “As you saw today, the board saw our full audited financials,” [BBPC president Regina Myer] said. “The board is fully apprised of our current financials and in August, when we were asked about the five-year cash flows, we were happy to give that presentation. At that time there were no questions and the board seemed satisfied. All of that information is available on our website.”

Because real estate values have ballooned since the original park plan was written, fewer luxury units are needed to fund the park. Rather than reduce the size of the towers, however, the city seeks to include 30 percent moderate- and middle-income housing in the project, as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade.

“As you know, we announced in the summer we also have the ability to provide affordable housing within the project site,” Myer told the Eagle. “We believe it’s great that we can address a second public policy goal of not just maintaining the park, but to have a more diverse range of incomes living within the project site.”

BHB has reached out to the Green Space Foundation for a guest post on Friday’s meeting. The GSF has provided us with their analysis here:

People for Greenspace presentation on BBP financing

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  • Heights Observer

    Does anyone know how are “moderate” and “middle class” defined and what price/rent for these units are we talking about?

  • Solovely

    Dear everyone,

    While the financial analysis is compelling (park is already funded!), there are also wonderful heart-filled reasons to keep every little precious green spot, green! and perhaps a place the community could say what happens are pier 6? If you could write the script, what would you put on Pier 6?

    Brooklyn has been the fastest growing borough by population between 2010 and 2013 according to the US Census (3.5%), and is projected by the City’s demographers to be the second fastest growing borough between 2010 and 2040 ( Brooklyn 11.3%, Bronx is the fastest growing over this period at 14%). But, Brooklyn has the least park space of any borough!!! Plus, school capacity concerns, traffic concerns, and safety concerns with cars, park visitors, and crowding.

    Our group advocates for green space, and active living space for everyone; we seek to preserve our precious park space, rather then build housing for a few hundred people. The park’s 10 year old master plan has proven “insufficiently ambitious” to meet the park’s current success. Bad data makes for bad planning. Plus, it’s a flood zone.

    People calling us NIMBYs are just the real estate developers who want to make a bunch of money off of building on Pier 6! Just like Toll Brothers has, even violating their height agreement and horrifically blocking the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Where is the neighborhood headed with all these developers … thoughts on coordinated planning? Outer borough no more… !

    We need city’s to live, work, and play in! Our Mayor knows this! He will join us.

    See WSJ park acres by borough size,
    http://www.savepier6.org/faq

    Look forward to hearing what others think about the importance and future of the park? Given Brooklyn’s tremendous changes still to come in the years ahead?

  • LDS

    A somewhat related question: what’s up with the “repair” of the Squibb Park footbridge? I haven’t seen any activity there forever. Who is in charge of that and who can I contact to find out?

  • Jorale-man

    As I suggested before on here, I highly doubt there’s anything wrong with the Squibb Park Bridge. They’ve closed it because it’s too close to the construction site and there’s a risk of things falling and hurting someone walking on the bridge (which sits right under the Pierhouse site). You could ask the BBPC for more details but they weren’t particularly forthcoming when the press started to ask questions.

    The affordable housing issue is a red herring in all of this. As said above, they’re using it as a convenient leverage to push the skyscraper project through. It’s much easier to build high when there’s a perceived social good attached.

  • LDS

    Jorale-man, I did see your previous post and fear that you’re correct. I see no activity there at all. I often think about stopping into the Pier House sales office and asking them, and just to vent to someone. I’m sure they’d think “just another neighborhood crank.” I’ll contact BBPC and report back.

  • ujh

    Jorale-man, including so-called affordable housing on Pier 6 is our new mayor’s plan. None of the developers will lower the height of the building(s) on their own. If our elected officials, who have taken a position against development on Pier 6, are serious and not merely posturing they should be working with Mayor de Blasio to effect the desired changes. Only direction from the top will bring them about.

  • Teresa
  • Eddyde

    I’m not too quick to agree. The bridge did indeed have a noticeable list to one side the week before it closed. However, there was a rumor of a suspicious man carrying tools, on the grassy knoll beneath the bridge.

  • LDS

    Aha, thanks Teresa, missed that. I’ll have to get used to Jehovah’s hill and hope it’ll be repaired soon. The view will certainly be different when it re-opens.

  • StoptheChop

    Apparently, our Mayor is refusing to work with them, not the other way around.

  • http://www.cognation.net/ deancollins

    Was there anyone supporting the building Pier 6….I know I do.

  • Andrew Porter

    Was his name Zapruder?