The Fort Greene Association spent much of its monthly meeting last night promoting the position (which we share) that Admirals’ Row is a “valuable historic asset” that can and should be preserved without having to forego the creation of a supermarket for the area. Howard Pitsch, former chair of the FGA, made the argument that the market plan put forth by the BNYDC was unneccesarily large. Rather devoting six acres of land to the market and providing parking for 300 cars, a more modest market on a scale of the Park Slope Key Food (which has about 80 parking spaces) could easily be built on four acres while saving the existing Admiral’s Row houses on the remaining two acres. Pitsch also pointed out that the Army Corps of Engineers is obliged under Federal law to entertain all reasonable proposals in addition to the one already put forth by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation; the FGA is currently reaching out to developers and supermarket companies in an effort to drum up alternative proposals. Pratt prof Brent Porter followed up with more drawings and studies of how the officers’ houses could be adaptively reused for shops and community purposes while building a new green supermarket and creating space for a weekend greenmarket. The phrase “Have Your Cake and Eat It Too” was used more than once.
Admirals’ Row: Debate Still Framed as Either/Or Decision [Brownstoner]
Officers’ Row: Let’s Have Our Cake and Eat It Too [Brownstoner]
Fort Greene Association [FGA Homepage]