Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a story about Save the View Now, the Brooklyn Heights based group seeking to curb the height of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pierhouse.
The article mentions the 2005 agreement that Otis Pratt Pearsall struck with park officials regarding the building’s height:
NYT: The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which oversees the park, said it was not aware of the agreement, which predates the organization’s current leadership, and that the building meets current zoning rules. The views, officials added, are still spectacular.
The controversy dates to 2005, when the park was still in its planning stages. That year, a draft environmental impact statement related to the Pierhouse was released; it called for a 110-foot structure. The complex was to replace a warehouse located on the spot, which would be torn down in 2010. Under an unusual model, the cost of maintaining and operating the park is to be borne by the private developments along the park’s perimeter, including Pierhouse, a three-building complex where a penthouse apartment recently went into contract for $11 million.
Concerned about the possible effect on the view, Mr. Pearsall said he worked out an agreement with the park’s landscape architect, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, acting on behalf of the park corporation, that mechanical structures were to be counted against that cap. Mr. Pearsall has email from Mr. Van Valkenburgh’s office memorializing the agreement.
