So much for New York City’s two-month moratorium on film shoots in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. The Brooklyn Paper reported May 10 that following persistent complaints from neighbors about parking restrictions, lights, power cables and trailers, filming was halted from April 1 until the beginning of June.

However, here in the third week of May, a notice is posted at the bottom of Remsen Street that says filming for “Insomnia TV—Amish” is taking place Wednesday May 23, beginning at 4 p.m. (Mind you, as of 5:30 p.m., there were no signs of action, nor were cars ordered to vacate the block.)

Insomnia TV is a Manhattan-based production company comprising entertainment, marketing and promotional shoots, including film trailers and corporate. Its clients include History Channel, CBS, HBO, A&E and Lifetime.

Our best guess is that “Amish” has to do with A&E’s pilot for “Living with the Amish,” a British reality show being developed stateside that features all-American teens living with Amish families.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

Last year, neighborhood and preservation organizations, including the Brooklyn Heights Association, prevailed in lawsuits in both federal and state courts in which they contested the actions of the National Park Service and the city and state governments to transfer the Tobacco Warehouse site from Brooklyn Bridge Park for use as a new home for St. Ann’s Warehouse Theater, as well as the Empire Stores building for possible commercial development. Following the court decisions, BHA and the other successful plaintiffs began negotiations with city and state officials to establish rules governing possible development of these sites. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced that an agreement had been made under which, among other things, additional land will be added to Brooklyn Bridge Park should the Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores be made available for non-park use.

According to BHA President Jane McGroarty, the principal provisions of the agreement are:

* There will be 38,000 square feet of new parkland in DUMBO for Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is significant since the initial attempt to develop the Tobacco Warehouse did not include any replacement parkland. If we do not believe that the substitute parkland is properly valued, we will have the right to submit an independent valuation to NPS during the conversion process.

* The agreement states that the National Park Service should decide the conversion issues on the merits, without political considerations.

* The BBPC must hold regular briefings for the community every two weeks during the conversion process, and place any correspondence about the conversion on its website. This is another major victory for us, as it ensures that any conversion process will be transparent.

* BBPC will keep the Tobacco Warehouse open to the public until any development takes place. Any construction plan will protect the historic character of the Tobacco Warehouse. The community will have a role in managing the use of the public space in the Tobacco Warehouse after any construction project is completed.

Ms. McGroarty expressed gratitude to the city and state officials who “graciously came to the table to partner with us.” She thanked Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation President Regina Myer and BHA member Hank Gutman “for their very constructive roles during the negotiation process.” She said “State Senator Daniel Squadron and Senate Assembly Member Joan Millman were also extremely helpful to us in forging the right result.”

It is clear from Ms. McGroarty’s statement that the BHA will not oppose adaptive re-use of the Tobacco Warehouse site, including its use as a space for St. Ann’s Warehouse, provided that it is done within the rules established by the agreement.

Photo: DUMBO NYC.

Our faithful videographer & correspondent Karl Junkersfeld was on the scene on the Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO border as a piece of the roof cornice at 7 Old Fulton Street—which houses a restaurant by the same name and has apartments above—collapsed onto the street, at 12:45 Monday afternoon. Fortunately, no one was injured. Karl notes that a similar incident recently took place at Grimaldi’s Pizza up the street. See his 1:21-minute report below.
YouTube link is here.
(Below: Before the incident. Photo from Flickr)

It’s a good thing NBC’s hit series “Smash” has wrapped its first season. The city has imposed a two-month moratorium on film shoots in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO—bringing a cease fire to movie-making in two of the borough’s most cinematic communities.

The Brooklyn Paper reports today that the clamp-down follows persistent complaints from neighbors about parking restrictions, lights, power cables and trailers.

“It is part of our office’s continuing efforts to weigh the needs and concerns of the community while supporting the jobs that come from film and television production in the city,” city film spokeswoman Marybeth Ihle said in the Brooklyn Paper.

Production companies have filmed few movies, TV shows or commercials since April 1, when the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment pulled the plug.

Mayor Bloomberg said on Tuesday that the film & TV industry has spent $60 billion in the city over the past decade, including $7.1 billion in 2011, while employing 130,000 people. But small businesses claim they’re not spending their money on local venues.

Read the full piece in Brooklyn Paper here.

NYPD

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

Brooklyn Heights’ resident Rick Elkins, who works as an art director and editorial/advertising photographer, shared with BHB a series of eight stunning photographs from his portfolio. To see his Flickr photostream, click here, and here for a set of 131 NYC-centric pics. (See large images below the jump.)

Elkins tells us, “Six of these were taken in Brooklyn Heights proper. The ballerina is in DUMBO, but it shows the Brooklyn Bridge, which is a really big part of our neighborhood. And the one of the harbor taken from up on the Bridge shows the area we see from our neighborhood, just from a different angle.”

Rick Elkins’ website is here. Below: Umbrellas On Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Atlantic Avenue, New York Harbor From Brooklyn Bridge, Promenade Fog, Remsen Street, Promenade Sunset, Lightning Storm From The Promenade, and Brooklyn Bridge Ballerina.

ABC comedy Suburgatory cast member and former Saturday Night Live regular Ana Gasteyer, who resides in DUMBO, is profiled in New York magazine’s Daily Intel.

Among the questions New York mag tossed at the actor, singer and comedienne: “Where do you go to be alone?” Her response: “The Brooklyn Heights Promenade and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. But I have small children, so I’m not really ever alone.”

Gasteyer will be performing her “Elegant Songs From A Handsome Woman” at Manhattan’s Joe’s Pub April 2. And reaching back to 1998, her SNL impression of Celine Dion remains a classic.

A tech-savvy police officer from the 84th Precinct helped catch a thief this afternoon. According to cops, a 32-year-old woman fell prey to an armed robber at the High Street station just before 1:20 P.M. The suspect fled with the victim’s pocketbook and iPhone. The victim quickly found an officer stationed on Pearl Street and reported the incident. Officer Benito Ocasio, honored as a Cop of the Month in 2009, suggested that he might be able to track the phone using the victim’s iTunes account. In doing so, they saw that the phone was then in the vicinity of 111 Bridge St. in the Farragut Houses. Responding there, police found the suspect exiting the building…with a ringing phone. He was stopped, positively identified by the victim, and taken into custody. The victim’s property, including credit cards and state ID, was recovered. Police have identified the suspect as Brian Mack, 55. He now faces charges of robbery, grand larceny, menacing, possession of a weapon, and criminal trespass.

Anne Hathaway seems to have a penchant for Brooklyn. The Oscar-nominated doe-eyed actress—who is starring next as Catwoman in this summer’s “The Dark Knight Rises”—has just moved from her BK Prospect Heights home to… DUMBO.

Both Curbed and Gothamist are reporting a goodie bag of details: She and fiancé Adam Shulman have moved into a rental unit in the Clocktower building at 1 Main Street, setting up house in a 1BR with home office going for $6,400 a month.

Hathaway and Shulman had been sniffing around various Brooklyn locales, including her temporary nest in Prospect Heights, before settling into the waterfront building next to the Manhattan Bridge. This followed Hathaway’s leaving her Manhattan digs at 641 Fifth Avenue, a $37,000-a-month 46th/47th-floor duplex, which she shared with ex-fiancé (and now imprisoned con man) Raffaello Follieri.

The New York Post notes that the couple’s sixth-floor $6,400-a-month DUMBO rental is a far financial cry from the building’s premiere penthouse space: the $19 million Watchtower triplex that has been sitting empty with no serious bidders (and was once asking $50,000 a month in rent). Meanwhile, the Post says, “Neighbors describe Hathaway as low-key.”

P.S. 8, our local public elementary (and soon to be middle as well) school will hold its Spring Gala on Friday, March 23, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m, at the Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO, at 37 Main Street (corner of Water). There will be cocktails, hors d’ouevres, and both live and silent auctions. Amy Klein, the P.S. 8 parent in charge of the auctions, says:

We have over 200 items, really great stuff this year, including sporting tickets, jewelry, restaurants, summer camps, and some great unique experiences. Of course all the funds will go toward paying for teachers’ aides, enrichment, things that other schools might take for granted.

All are invited. The admission is $58 for an individual, $108 for a couple if reserved in advance (go to www.ps8brooklyn.org/spring benefit to reserve or for more information) or $88 per person at the door. There will also be an online-only auction of tickets to the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in L.A. If interested, go here.

A surfing website picks up, verbatim, Two Trees’ press release about three new lease deals in DUMBO: one for a “locally sourced restaurant from the team behind Colonie in Brooklyn Heights” to be located at 15 Main Street; another for an outlet for bakery One Girl Cookies at 33 Main; and a third for Aegir Boardworks, a “surf and snow” shop that will occupy what “was formerly a barren loading dock” at 99 Water Street. Video after the jump.

Surfline: “There isn’t a more perfect place for a company like ours to flourish than in DUMBO,” said Peter Frolich, Co-owner of Aegir Boardworks, a surf and snow retail and service business. His partner, Shaun Tangen, agrees. “Two Trees has provided us with a fantastic new home here and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this new generation of Brooklyn-based businesses.”

Slated to open in April, Aegir Board Works is a company tailor-made for the Brooklyn waterfront and is poised to become the premier surf/snow shop in New York City.

While we wish the owners of Aegir the best of success, we can’t help but remember the Tradewinds’ hit from the sixties; as for the snow side of the business, we’ll need a return to real winters.

This may not come as a surprise to those who live in Brooklyn, but collegiate blog The Brooklyn Ink published a piece Friday March 9, asking “Is Brooklyn Still A Bargain?” looking at real estate trends in the borough’s trendiest neighborhoods versus Manhattan.

The overall conclusion: The notion that Brooklyn living is only for bargain hunters is gone. More people are choosing Brooklyn for its lifestyle than its rents. “You see people going there because they want to actually live there,” says Andrew Barrocas, CEO of real estate company MNS, “and they are willing to pay a premium in order to do it.”

The story compares DUMBO rental prices with Manhattan’s UES, as well as a glance at Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill. Lots of stats, again with a focus on the rental market. See the full piece here.

Photo by M. Hermann/BHB

A man was assaulted with a knife and his assailant taken into custody shortly after 1:00 this morning at reBar, 147 Front Street, near Jay Streeet in DUMBO. The 25-year-old victim, whose left foot was bandaged, reportedly called 911 to report that he had been stabbed, while others held the perpetrator until police arrived. Detectives from the 84th Precinct took the suspect into custody. The victim was transported to Kings County Hospital in stable condition.

It is unclear what sparked the incident. Updates will be posted as they become available.

Suspect in custody at the scene. Photo by M. Hermann/BHB

The March 2012 issue of “Travel and Leisure” magazine, which features its 2012 Design Awards, includes Brooklyn’s own Jane’s Carousel Pavilion, winning kudos for Best Public Space.

The wondrously recreated carousel in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn Bridge Park was designed and meticulously restored by Jane Walentas beginning in 1984. See pics and history at THe Smoking Nun blog here.

Travel and Leisure writes: “In a completely unexpected pairing, a richly detailed carousel (1922) and a see-through minimalist shed (2011) jointly occupy a dramatic waterfront site in the shadow of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The carousel is open to the public and after sunset, the pavilion’s acrylic walls are illuminated, creating a light show visible across the river and from the bridges above.”

If you haven’t yet visited, it’s a neighborhood must. One can “Pony Up” for $2 a ride. See Jane’s website for hours and more information. From now through April 5, the ride is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.

The New York Times profiled Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management over the weekend. In the piece by Marc Santora we learn among other things that the heir to the Walentas empire is pals with Donald Trump and that Bruce Ratner doesn’t think the kid is chopped liver. And just in case you didn’t think there was any tension between those down the hill in DUMBO and folks up here in Brooklyn Heights…

New York Times: Judy Stanton, the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, has battled with both David and Jed Walentas over numerous projects.

“I think Jed has better manners — which is not to say he is well mannered — than his father,” she said. “He does not come up to people out of the blue and say really crude, rude things.”

David Walentas, whose shirt cuffs bear not his monogram but his motto, “No Guts No Glory,” makes no apologies for the battles he has waged. “I was the lone ranger out there at war with everyone,” he said, noting that his success had allowed his son the luxury of patience.

But critics like Ms. Stanton still get under his skin. “They are up there on the hill, holier than thou,” he said. “But if it had been up to them, there would be no Dumbo.”

The Times’ “ArtsBeat” blog reports that St. Ann’s Warehouse Theater, which is slated to leave its present location to make way for the Dock Street Project, and which lost its bid to build new space in the Tobacco Warehouse, has signed a lease that will allow it to relocate to 29 Jay Street, also in DUMBO. The story quotes Susan Feldman, St. Ann’s artistic director, as saying the theater will continue to look for “a more permanent home.”

From our pals at DUMBONYC comes news regarding Grimaldi’s move to 1 Front Street:

DUMBONYC: Grimaldi’s move to 1 Front Street is delayed due to an untimely death in the family and the Department of Buildings has issued a stop-work order at the 1 Front Street location. According to the BOD website, the stop work order issued on 11/28/2011 is for “illegally installed coal burning oven @ 1st floor done w/o propper approvals & presents a potential danger to patrons”.

Russell Ciolli, son of Frank Ciolli, both owners of Grimaldi’s Pizza, died last Wednesday at 39. Our condolences go out to the Ciolli family.

He tried to get out, but apparently Patsy Grimaldi is getting pulled back into the pizza business. As previously reported, the current tenant of 19 Old Fulton Street, Grimaldi’s Pizza, will be moving next door to 1 Front Street at the end of the month. They’re taking the name, but leaving the legendary coal oven. Grimaldi’s owner Frank Ciolli says he will ask the city to let him install a coal oven in the new location. Grimaldi will name his new place Juliana’s, after his late mother the paper says.

Which pizza pie will remain supreme?

NY Post: The pizza-slinger switcheroo came about after landlord Mark Waxman decided not to renew Ciolli’s lease for 19 Old Fulton St. The move came a year after Waxman tried to evict Ciolli for being delinquent in rent.

“A year after I sold Grimaldi’s, I was very sorry,” Grimaldi told The Post. “So when Mr. Waxman called me and asked if I wanted to come back, I thought I was dreaming. I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough.”
Grimaldi, who plans to open in March, said he’s spent the past 13 years traveling with Carol, his wife of 40 years.

The Brooklyn Paper reports that Grimaldi’s Pizzeria has solved two problems by moving to 1 Front Street – a contentious relationship with its landlord and the cycle of truly lousy tenants at the historic cast iron building:

Brooklyn Paper: “We’re moving into a bigger, nicer, and cleaner facility,” said Gina Peluso, daughter of owner Frank Ciolli. “It will be nice to have a little more room.”

Grimaldi’s will serve its final pie at its current location on Nov. 28, then open one day later open in 1 Front St. — a former bank turned bar and lounge. The eatery will take over the first floor, while the second floor will remain a nightclub.

[via DUMBONYC]

Our gang over at the 84th Precinct made a good grab this afternoon on the Manhattan Bridge, when they responded to a report of an emotionally disturbed person standing on the span’s outer edge. P.O. Anthony Brooks, an 18-year veteran of the department, engaged the person, a 38-year-old male, in conversation. Shortly after seeing the officers, the man turned and began to quickly walk away from them. Officer Brooks, with the assistance of P.O. William Cooper and P.O. Daniel Sandberg, followed and managed to grab him by the waist and pull him over the fence to their side. EMS responded and transported the subject to Bellevue Hospital.

State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and City Council Member Steve Levin will host a Transportation Town Hall meeting this coming Wednesday evening, October 26, from 7:30 to 8:30, at 55 Washington Street in DUMBO, Room 216. The purpose of the meeting is “to discuss the ongoing transit-related issues in DUMBO, Fulton Ferry Landing, and Downtown Brooklyn.” Representatives of the MTA, the City’s Department of Transportation, and the 84th Precinct will be there. All are invited; if you plan to attend, please RSVP to belinda@danielsquadron.org

The Transportation Committee of Community Board 2 will meet tomorrow evening (Tuesday, October 18) at St. Francis College, First Floor Board Room, 180 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court), starting at 6:00. On the agenda are: (1) a presentation by Cheska Tolentino, of Transport Workers Union Local 100, on a campaign, New Yorkers Deserve a Rat-Free Subway; (2) a proposal by Brooklyn Heights Association president Jane McGroarty and BHA board member Patrick Killackey “to increase pedestrian safety at the Atlantic Avenue on-ramp to the eastbound (Queens-bound) Brooklyn-Queens Expressway”; and (3) an update “on plans for streetscape improvements at Fulton Ferry Landing and possibly other matters” by Christopher Hrones, the Downtown Brooklyn transportation coordinator for the Department of Transportation. CB2 committee meetings are open to the public. Details on Wednesday’s Land Use Committee meeting follow the jump.

The Land Use Committee will meet on Wednesday evening, October 19, also starting at 6:00, in Room LC400 of the Dibner Building of NYU-Polytechnic (see map, 5 MetroTech Center. The following matters affecting local properties are on the agenda: (1) “89 Joralemon Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District – Application is replace deteriorating brownstone stucco newel posts and adjacent brownstone stucco low fence”; (2) “135 Plymouth Street – DUMBO Historic District – Application is to create a new building entry with new storefront at one of the existing truck bays on Plymouth Street”; and (3) “146 Hicks Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District – Application is to replace damaged asbestos-cement siding.”

On a quiet Tuesday evening Karl, with cam, takes a walk along Hicks Street and down to DUMBO, along the way admiring the Halloween window decorations at Perfect Paws, UVA’s artistic construction at the Tobacco Warehouse, and the crowd lined up for Karen O’s “psycho opera” Stop the Virgens at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Video after the jump.

Dog obsessed Brooklynites: You know what time it is!

The 9th Annual Howl-o-Ween Charity Doggie Costume Parade and Contest has been scheduled for Sunday, October 30th from 1-3pm on the Promenade.

If you’d like to enter your dog in the parade/costume contest, you’ll need to pre-register at Perfect Paws, 102 Hicks Street (corner of Pineapple). The cost of entry is $25/dog, all of which is a  tax deductible charitable donation and all of which will be distributed among three animal-related charities:

• Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Windsor Terrace, Bklyn
• Friends of Hillside Dog Park right here in Bklyn Heights
• Blue Rider Stables near Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Fabulous prizes awarded in many categories.  If you’re participated in previous years, you know how much fun this is and if it is your first time, come on down!  If you don’t have a dog in this race, it’s free to be an observer and cheer on the contestants.  Last year several hundred bemused locals and tourists watched over 70 parade participants strut their stuff for fun and glory.

Dr. Sara Neuman and the gang over at Vinegar Hill Vet are hosting the catered after party immediately following the contest judging–now three years running (yea Dr. Sara!).  Contest winners will be announced around 4pm at the after party. You won’t want to miss this!

Local Businesses Owners:  Get your business in front of hundreds of locals and support animal charity at the same time. You can sponsor a table at the parade/contest, or donate items for the contest goodie bags.   Call Tom at the above number 501(c)(3) certificate on file if you need a copy for your business.

See you there!  May the best costumes win!

A monarch butterfly, on its annual migration to Mexico, pauses on Pier 1.

More photos and text after the jump.

Max Pelzmann’s Canopy, formerly white, became bright red just before the DUMBO Arts Festival. You can find it near the park entrance at the foot of Main Street.

The East Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge from a new perspective, the lawn just south of Jane’s Carousel.

Has this been contributing to my wife’s and daughter’s sneezing? Goldenrod on Pier 1.

At least it’s keeping the bees busy making late-season honey.

A profusion of fall flowers on the landward side of Pier 1.

The schooner Clipper City heading out on a tourist cruise from the Seaport Museum, as seen from the pedestrian path near the south end of Pier 1.

Showy blossoms and berries, landward side of Pier 6.

Photos by Claude Scales for BHB.

New Friday night CBS drama “A Gifted Man,” starring Patrick Wilson as a heartless neurosurgeon whose dead ex-wife returns as a ghost to egg him into becoming a do-gooder (also featuring newly minted Emmy winner Margo Martindale), shows numerous scenes of the good doctor on the fringes of Brooklyn Heights.

In the pilot episode that aired Sept. 23, we see Dr. Michael Holt jogging in Brooklyn Bridge Park, picking up dinner at the River Cafe and enduring a self-reflective moment at Fulton Landing.

The show garnered 9.3 million viewers for its premiere, the top-rated scripted program during the time period and among viewers 25-54, which is regarded as a “decent” opening. All the same, better tune in quick, considering that Williamsburg, BK-based ” Broke Girls,” also on CBS, drew 19.2 million viewers.

Our man with a cam Karl Junkersfeld check out this weekend’s DUMBO Arts Festival. Watch the video after the jump.

The DUMBO Arts Festival returns this weekend, with plenty of treats for eye, ear, and mind, and perhaps even for your backside if you choose to perch on one of the rocks upholstered by Elizabeth Demaray, an artist and Rutgers professor with a background in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, shown here working on a project for the Festival, done in conjunction with the design collective Pillow Culture, called “24 Stones I’d Like to Know”.

The Festival will begin this Friday evening, September 23 from 6:00 to 9:00, and will continue Saturday from noon until 8:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m. Outdoor video projections will be shown from sundown to midnight. The Festival will feature visual art, music, performance art, video and projection, literary readings and discussions, and events for kids and parents, as well as Jane’s Carousel.

You can find the Festival on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. It is produced by Dalzell Productions and Two Trees Management.

The evacuation order for Zone A, which includes One Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Park itself, as well as some low-lying areas of DUMBO and Vinegar Hill, was lifted effective 3:00 p.m. Meanwhile, according to the MTA’s website:

MTA crews are reporting widespread impacts following Hurricane Irene, including track and yard flooding, downed trees and power outages across our region. We are moving as quickly as possible to restore service while ensuring the safety of our customers, employees and equipment. Determinations about the timing of restoration of services will be made after assessments are complete and in consultation with the Governor and Mayor.

Update: The MTA will restore “limited bus service” beginning at 4:30 p.m. today, starting in Manhattan and the Bronx, then proceeding to Brooklyn and Queens, but not Staten Island, where conditions are still unsuitable. No fares will be charged today. The PATH will run again starting at 4:00 a.m., but no word yet on city subways or commuter trains.

Mayor Bloomberg announced this evening that city and state officials plan to sign an agreement tomorrow concerning the funding of Brooklyn Bridge Park that may result in smaller scale housing being built on park land, and may even eliminate the need for the two planned new buildings near the foot of Pier 6.

The New York Times: After months of uncertainty over the fate of the popular Brooklyn Bridge Park, city and state officials plan to sign an agreement on Tuesday that would allow limited private housing to be built there, to help pay an expected annual operating cost of $16 million.

The agreement ensures that the park, which now measures 20 acres, will be completed, eventually expanding to 85 acres on five disused piers along the East River.

According to the Times story, the agreement will allow a building planned for John Street in DUMBO to proceed, but at a greatly reduced scale. The story also mentions in passing the planned combination hotel and apartment complex (although it characterizes it as “a hotel and retail complex” and asserts that it has “attracted less controversy”) planned for the landward side of Pier 1, for which the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has announced its intention of issuing a request for proposal this month, and which apparently will not be affected by the agreement.

The big news is that the city has agreed to consider revenues from the sale of Watchtower properties as a source of park funding. Under the agreement, to which the Watchtower is not a party, should the Watchtower sell all or some of its properties in conjunction with its planned move upstate before January 1, 2014, the city will consider tax revenue from those properties as offsetting the need for payments in lieu of taxes from the residential buildings planned for Pier 6. Under the proposed offset formula, according to the Times, it would take sales of 1.5 million square feet of Watchtower property to eliminate the need for both Pier 6 buildings.

State Senator Daniel Squadron, who has been a strong advocate of use of revenues from the Watchtower properties to fund park opeartion and maintenance, and who, under the earlier agreement between the city and state authorizing the city to take over development of the Park, has been given veto power over the construction of housing on park land, is quoted by the Times as saying the new agreement is “not as extreme as the plan that we’re changing, but a way to build a great new park in tough times.”