Sleepy Red Hook Could Become Skyscraper District With Cuomo's Support for New Subway Line

A considerable transformation of Red Hook is on the horizon.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will signal his support for Hudson Yards-style development of Red Hook in his State of the State address today at 1 p.m., instructing the MTA to study the construction of a new subway line that would connect downtown Manhattan with Red Hook, amNY reported.

He will also ask Port Authority to study the relocation of maritime activities from the Red Hook Container Terminal to Sunset Park’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, potentially freeing up waterfront property for development.

Political support for both at the highest state level, the governor’s office, are necessary to unleash a development boom of residential skyscrapers, a scenario floated by engineering firm AECOM last year, that would obliterate the unique industrial-rural character of the neighborhood.

AECOM — who worked on One World Trade Center and One Bryant Park, among other projects — has proposed city- and Port Authority-owned land be sold to private developers and the 1 train extended from the Rector station in lower Manhattan into Red Hook.

Residents were largely against AECOM’s proposal. “We’ve seen this before,” Janet Andrews, community organizer for the New York City Council who works for local City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, told Brownstoner in 2016.

“My question remains, what will they do to help the community? We saw it with Sandy: $400 million dollars came through here, but where did it go? We can get Citi Bikes that no one asked for, but we haven’t had a grocery store in four years. What is this development going to do for us, the people who have lived in this community for years?”

The proposal also comes on the heels of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans for the BQX streetcar, which would travel through Red Hook on its 14-mile route between Sunset Park and Astoria.

Related Stories

• Could Sleepy Red Hook Really Be Transformed Into a Giant Mass of Skyscrapers?
• Should Brooklyn Sell off Its Ports to Be Turned Into Housing?
• Will the Red Hook Container Terminal be Redeveloped?

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