Benepe: Brooklyn Bridge Park “broke a promise”

By on September 25, 2015 11:00 am in brooklyn bridge park

Adrian Benepe, the former head of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, weighed in on the Pier House situation following the court decision earlier this week that ruled in favor of the hotel/condo development in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

“A commitment was made; there is no question about it,” Benepe told Crain’s New York Business. “And I’m afraid they’ve lost the faith of an important part of the community.”

Park corporation president Regina Myer pooh-poohed Benepe’s comments, pointing to his involvement in the development.

“He personally voted to approve the selected project,” she pointed out.

Read more at Crain’s.

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  • Brixtony

    As we see in the other story, the fix was in. What a sad, pathetic piece of BH history. At least, this will never happen again. Yeah, right!

  • Andrew Porter

    If I ever see Regina Myer walking down the street, I will turn my back to her.

  • CHatter

    You’ll probably see her walking out of her Pier House pad before long….

  • Garett Rosso

    Wait for Act II to begin when BBPC fails to maintain the park in a meaningful way. The criminal Regina Myer’s new response is to cover as much with asphalt as possible. Many of the parks lawns are dead and it’s fixtures (benches, fences, dog park, etc) are so poorly constructed that they are unable to stand up to heavy use after only a few years

  • Kenn Lowy

    Adrian Benepe never did anything positive for the park.

  • Jorale-man

    Yes, I jog there every morning and see that parts of the park are looking pretty shabby. Part of it may have been the long, dry summer, but it also points to neglect. I look now at the pristine new section in Dumbo and think it’s only a year or two before it starts deteriorating too.

  • Willow Street Watch

    ALL of this was a scam from day one. And many, many far sighted figures in the Heights in the 70’s and early 80’s repeatedly warned that this was simply a plan to build high value real estate with very, very questionable effects on the Heights.

    The groups who council that the Heights can be defended in state court are a contained or well controlled opposition. Like the NYS conservative party in the early to mid 70’s when they saw to it that the unelectable John Lindsay got in for a second term.

    People should wise up at some point…ONLY a federal indictment of key individuals either for this project OR for something else they are involved in…is going to stem this kind of brazen destructive behavior.

  • mlcraryville

    See the NYTimes Sunday real estate section for a large picture showing what all the weasel wording and obfuscation andv

  • darth

    Clearly there is a conspiracy — one involving evil, shadowy politicians and their corporate cronies. It’s miraculous the entire Heights hasn’t been replaced with a Wal-Mart.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Maybe slightly off topic but here’s the current view from Squibb. Too urgent to upload from a desktop computer, so if it’s flipped just stand on your head to view. ;)

  • StoptheChop

    but tourists will still pour into BBP- which is all that seems to matter to City Hall at this point.

  • johnny cakes

    A.B. is and was a punk. Nothing but a paid-again punk for Bloomberg and his real estate interest.

  • johnny cakes

    She should be doing the perp-walk. She is a criminal.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Personally, I think BBP is a tremendous asset and I walk it everyday to Jay Street for my coffee (Roasting Company) back to Atlantic to shop at Trader Joe’s.

    Regina has done an incredible job IMHO. Starwood is building a beautiful hotel and Toll Brothers Pierhouse is gorgeous.

    Y’all are entitled to your opinions but I could not disagree more.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Gotta say, I have a lot of respect for you for saying this. I think because of the ugly duplicitousness in the way the development has been overseen it’s difficult for most of us to regard the “park”* or the buildings (for their architectural merit) with any objectivity.

    *I have to use quotes because as I understand it, it’s not technically a park, at least not in the same sense as Prospect or Central are municipal parks, and the expectation that it is seems to have led many of us to hold it to the same standards of interaction with its surrounding area.

    That said, my family and I have really enjoyed the park and everything it offers, and I’m willing to confess that if I could afford it I wouldn’t mind a Pierhouse apartment, but here’s where the line comes down for me: I’m not sure that if I could afford one, I’d be willing to show my face walking through the front door.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    I agree with much of your comment. The park is definitely an event/recreational driven public space with some passive areas. I think the extension on Pier 6 and the eventual development of Pier 3 will go a long way to providing an area for just lying around and enjoying the landscape. Note: Nice to see a comment that is reasoned without such vitriol.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Thanks. I’m turned off by vitriol and try to avoid it. Gives us comments sections urchins a bad name. :)

  • gatornyc

    Couldn’t agree with you more Karl. The naysayers are being blinded by their vitriol from seeing the tremendous positives of BBP.

  • Concerned

    I also like the park. I think it’s beautiful. I think the Pierhouse is a floor or two too tall. I also don’t like the brown facade. The hotel looks like it’s going to be great. Nevertheless, I am not a fan of everything that is going on at the BBP and I think there needs to be less concealment and more checks and balances. I also would like to see more police in BBP and the Heights during the summertime.

  • StoptheChop

    But here’s the thing: those of us who were involved with the genesis of BBP years ago advocated for a park, not a Destination, given that Brooklyn is the most underparked borough per capita. — even understanding that tradeoffs would be made re appropriate levels of commericial activity, events, etc. Now, BBP runs along several communities that have a right to voice concerns and not be shrugged off by Management (and the Mayor, who’s flipflopped here) with “too bad. You lose.” BBP may be a stellar waterfront development project, but the increasing disregard for community concerns (and our elected officials), the dismissal of legitimate issues about BBP impacts, the lip service to outreach, and the flat out arrogance of BBP management do not serve anyone well. BBP did not have to evolve the way it did, nor does it need to continue with its emphasis on nonstop programming, etc. I don’t think it’s too late to reach a more neighborly balance, but it’s hard to do that when BBP keeps shutting us out. (ps Thanks Karl for starting a thoughful discussion!)

  • johnny cakes

    We all know where you put your head, Karl. And it isn’t on your shoulders.

  • Andrew Porter

    Think on the bright side: no bicycle velodrome! That area is now a pile of dirt.

  • RJG

    The reality is that a lot of people have read Karl Junkersfled’s notes over the years and he’s received almost 200 upvotes so far.

  • Doug Biviano

    Can you say Brooklyn Heights Public Library, LICH … btw, anyone see the LICH non-union Rat? How ironic.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Again, the only way to halt or slow this disaster is legal action or legal action by law enforcement but in any case on a federal level.

    There is also the reality that many major figures in the Heights who signed off at every step in this mess’ development, against the increas
    Ingly strong protests and warning by many responsible Heights residents have never been brought to task in any way for their behavior!

  • johnny cakes

    What is an UpVote? Sounds and smells stinky.

  • Reggie

    There have been numerous calls for legal action on the blog; why hasn’t that happened? Could it perhaps be that no crime has occurred?

  • johnny cakes

    Seems the people who could take legal action for the City and State don’t have an interest (?) to do so. Maybe they have an interest ($) to not do anything against their real estate sponsors. Only the Feds can do what the State and City officials aren’t doing. I guess the Feds are too busy doing other stuff (or are taking a lot time working on the case). There are a lot of BIG players playing here, and a ton of money is at stake. This applies to LICH also. Real estate greed knows no bounds, if it isn’t reeled in and tamed.