State Officials Green-Light Brooklyn Bridge Park
Plans for an 85-acre park running for 1.3 miles along the Brooklyn waterfront between Atlantic Avenue and the Manhattan Bridge got the thumbs-up from New York State yesterday, which, along with the City, will chip in $150 million for the project. As planned, the park include space for 1,240 units of luxury housing and 225…
Plans for an 85-acre park running for 1.3 miles along the Brooklyn waterfront between Atlantic Avenue and the Manhattan Bridge got the thumbs-up from New York State yesterday, which, along with the City, will chip in $150 million for the project. As planned, the park include space for 1,240 units of luxury housing and 225 hotel rooms, in addition to significant retail, restaurant, and office space, revenue from which is expected to cover the park’s projected $15.2 million annual operating cost. While still promising to go to court over the issue, opponents of the private development component are become less optimistic: “It is a luxury housing development with a small amount of publicly accessible land attached,” Roy Sloane, vice president of the Cobble Hill Association. “But it appears that that debate is over.” Construction on the park is expected to start next year.
Albany Approves Waterfront Park [NY Times]
Park It Here [NY Post]
Park On Fast Track [Brownstoner]
Compromise, Not Idealism, for Park [Brownstoner]
Don’t fight it, just move to upper NY state along the Lake champlain– not Vermont, though, because most of the lakeside is owned by very few
To Anon 3:26
We could do a lot worse than having something like Chelsea Piers down there. Doesn’t Chelsea Piers provide great facilities to the neighborhood – especially children?
It is far more expensive to maintain piers than terra firma. Plus, in addition to $8.2, prospect park receives maintain money and labor from the Parks Department. The 8.2 is kind of a misnomer. Plus, ask Tupper, the head of PPA if she doesn’t need triple that amount.
okay, that is a good question.
2:16 and 2:53,
So glad I could be Exhibit A in what you think is the dumbing down of America. While you think I show a “lack of management and budgeting savvy”, I would only say that I work in business and do a number of deals. My partner and I recently sold a business for over $300mm that was purchased in ’02 for $44mm. I can make my way through a balance sheet.
I’ll just ask you this: Why do you supposed this brand new park will need a $15mm operating budget when Prospect Park, a 585-acre park with far great mechanical, etc. challenges, had expenses of $8,208,224 in the fiscal year ending 6/30/05)?
One hopes they wouldn’t need 15 million dollars in upkeep when they are just finished building it.
Also, I have seen the operating budget for this thing and it’s crazy. While the truth is that the city does everything for much more money than needed, this will be a private operation. There is no need for them to pay 15mm a year on this park.
They need the condos to pay for the budget and they need the budget to pay for the overdevelopment of the space. Does anyone really thing Chelsea Piers should be in this space? Because that’s what is going in there.
Re 2:16 – what you said is so true and just another example of the educational system. I know I’m going off topic, but it’s ironic how after 13 years of schooling, most 18year olds still are clueless about how state and city govts run, clueless about city agencies, who’s in charge of what, city budgets, state budgets, city councils. Beyond knowing who is mayor, many are still unaware of offices and agencies and how New York City is run.
Kevin,
The views from the Promenade are protected by the Brooklyn Heights Scenic View District. No structure can rise above the promenade. Even the unprotected view of the bridge towers from the southern end of the promenade have been saved.
i think people are ignorant of what it takes to maintain a park- esp. one on piers. Statements like “$1 million, that’s 20 people” annoy me. It just shows lack of management and budgeting savvy. The costs of maintaining a park are far more than the gross salaries of all the employees. There are plenty of capital expenses and needs, not to mention stuff like insurance and etc. And benefits for workers, which generally go to about 30% of gross salary. And all the maintenance costs on the structures, walkways, lamps, etc. I don’t know what it needs to cost, but $1 million it is not. When people says stuff like this, I find myself thinking no wonder NYC (and USA) government has such a hard time. People don’t want to even know what it takes to run a government (or public-private) venture well. They’d rather throw out figures and bitch… Which is unfortunate, because they’ll definitely still be bitching as soon as the park goes in and it is maintained poorly… I don’t want so much housing, but pretending that the money is not needed strikes me as willfully ignorant.