City Takes Control of Brooklyn Bridge Park Project

By on March 10, 2010 5:26 pm in Brooklyn Heights

New York City will assume control of the Brooklyn Bridge Park project, it was announced today.   NY1 reports that New York state will “retain” influence on the final makeup of the park.  The deal must first be approved by the State Public Authorities Control Board.

Read  BHB’s reports on the park’s progress so far.

Assemblywoman Joan Millman released this statement today:

The City and State announced a Modified General Project Plan (MGPP) that will help to expedite the completion of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The proposed modifications include a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the State to create a not-for-profit entity to manage the development and operation of the park. As part of this agreement, the City will provide an additional $55 million in city capital funds for park construction, bringing the 85-acre world-class waterfront park closer to completion, as well as provide a guarantee to complete the park according to the vision laid out in the MGPP.
The proposed not-for-profit organization, known as the Brooklyn Bridge Park Operating Entity (BBPOE), would be responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance and operation of the park. The new entity would have a 17-member board representing the community, state and city appointees.
“As we approach the long-awaited opening of Piers 1 and 6, I am pleased that the City is taking the lead to develop the rest of this much anticipated and much needed park”, said Assemblywoman Millman. She added, “I applaud the City for its commitment to provide the funding for the park and its willingness to listen to the community’s call for year-round recreational opportunities, such as the skating rink, an indoor recreational facility at Pier 5 and the floating pool. I fully support a public process to discover alternatives to housing as a means to fund park operations.”
“I also want to thank my colleagues in state and city government, especially Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and State Senator Squadron, for sharing in my commitment to building this world-class park,” said Millman.

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  • Hello Brooklyn

    So when does Pier 1 open?!?

  • nabeguy

    A “Memorandum of Understanding”? Small wonder that NYS has a fiscal crisis, given that some jack-ass PR firm was probably paid $100K of our tax-dollars to come up with that gem. And what’s with all the acronyms? It’s as if Albany discovered the tinyURL application to help us digest their bureaucrat-ese.

  • my2cents

    Anything NOT under control of Albany is generally a good thing…

  • Adam G

    nabeguy, “Memorandum of Understanding” is pretty standard legalese.

  • http://www.FlashlightWorthyBooks.com Peter

    Adam G is right about “Memorandum of Understanding”. A search on Google for that phrase in quotes turns up 4,200,000 results. A search on “mou” turns up another 24,500,000.

  • nabeguy

    Thank you, my semantic brothers, for enlightening me. Good to know the term has been employed 28,700,000 times to come up with equally as many “understandings” between Albany and the rest of the state. I didn’t realize they were so busy up there. I’m sure Bruno probably had a good 10 million under his belt.

  • kcgrace

    how does the Fulton Ferry state park fit into the park plans? Will it remain under state control? It would be nice to have a dog friendly link between BBP and the new development.

  • Tim N.

    Received this letter this morning from Bob Stone of the Park Defense Fund. I wanted to thank BHB, who first brought Daniel “Kid” Squadron to my attention. Your support of our senator was a true public service:

    Dear Friends,

    Many of you have written to the Park Defense Fund over the past couple of days regarding the news of the hand-over of the park to the city. You have asked us for facts and our assessment. Here is a brief summary.

    A new public authority will be created to finish the park, under the auspices of the Mayor’s office. The Mayor has committed to finishing the park but continues to advocate for private luxury housing inside its borders to pay for it. The Mayor has also committed to exploring a floating pool and ice rink, and to put funds toward an all-weather bubble. He says he’ll finish Pier 2 which contains the bulk of the recreation in that park and that was not slated to be built until today’s announcement.

    The Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund has advocated for year round recreational facilities in this park since the community’s original plan was thrown out in 2004. We’re extremely pleased that after 5 years of constant advocacy the community’s requests are being honored. Bravo!

    We’ve consistently advocated for alternate means to fund this park, which will now, finally, be explored through a special committee reporting to the new park operating entity. This is also an extremely positive development. We know that there are many ways to pay for this park without privatizing it with condos. Senator Squadron and Assemblywoman Millman have a veto over housing,should that become necessary . Bravo!

    Finally, designation of BBP as parkland, for which we’ve long advocated, is now promised, and in the near future. Bravo!

    Our three new representatives – Senator Daniel Squadron, Councilman Levin and Councilman Lander and our Assemblywoman, Joan Millman – have been staunch allies in a real park with year round recreation and no more housing. Our gratitude is deep and sincere to each of them – they are true heroes.

    But one carried the ball longest and furthest, and he deserves a special call out: Senator Squadron listened to the community and worked hard to understand the complexities of what we have advocated for over 25 years. He took up the cause of a real park, with year round recreation, and came through with an intelligent and creative way to pay for it without private housing inside its borders. Senator Squadron has embodied a level of courage and diplomacy that is unrivaled in these fraught political times. He deserves our congratulations, our gratitude and our enduring support. THANK YOU SENATOR SQUADRON!

  • anon

    This is great news…Lets all move forward together
    Marsha Rimler

  • BklynLifer

    Hooray! One step forward for the people! Now hopefully we will have the park financing discussion we SHOULD have had 6 years ago when a back-room deal took away recreation in the park and replaced it with luxury condos. Anger over that deal was a major factor in booting Marty Connor, who was party to that deal, and electing Sen. Squadron, a very smart and ethical man of the people!