The city has once again postponed a major vote on its $3.1 billion blueprint to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, this time by two months until mid-June. The Adams administration’s decision is a notable bow to pressure from politicians who have urged for more time to negotiate the sweeping plan that would remake a 122-acre stretch of Brooklyn waterfront.
A 28 member city-appointed task force made up of elected officials, freight experts and community leaders was expected to vote sometime in April on the Economic Development Corp.’s preliminary plan to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, which runs from Pier 7 in Cobble Hill to Pier 12 in Red Hook. The city has already pushed the vote back twice. But after some elected officials and community groups continued to call for additional time to review the proposed plan, and possibly reduce how much market rate housing is built as part of the project, EDC on Friday agreed with the task force’s leadership to postpone the vote into June.
“We have consistently maintained that time constraints would not drive this vision planning process,” wrote the task force’s chair Rep. Dan Goldman and co-vice chairs State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and City Council member Alexa Avilés, who all represent the surrounding area, in a joint statement. The trio added that the vote has been delayed in “recognition of the need to gather more information, ensure that the community is properly engaged and well-informed, and the final proposal considers all possibilities for this long-neglected waterfront site.”
EDC spokesman Jeff Holmes said that “after serious deliberation” the agency agreed with the task force’s leadership on Friday to push back the consequential vote. The Adams administration, to discourage further delays, says it will allocate another $109 million to the redevelopment, which would match a federal grant, in this year’s city budget so long as the task force approves EDC’s redevelopment proposal before July.
“We remain committed to transforming this long-neglected site into a modern all-electric maritime port, alongside a vibrant mixed-use community,” said Holmes. He added that the city will soon announce new opportunities for the public to provide feedback on its proposed vision.
A central and perhaps the most contentious component of EDC’s proposal is to erect up to 8,200 new apartments (including more than 2,600 for lower-income tenants). EDC says that selling public land to private housing developers will enable the Adams administration to pay for up to $1.75 billion in modern port infrastructure on 60 acres of the terminal so that the city can transport more goods by barge instead of by truck.
Some task force members, including Avilés and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, argue that the Brooklyn Marine Terminal should be maintained for industrial uses to create more freight and manufacturing jobs. They’ve called for the city and state to foot more of the cost of revitalizing the terminal, rather than relying on private developers eager to build apartments with sought-after waterfront views. Leaders in the region’s maritime freight industry, meanwhile, have said they are on board with EDC’s blueprint for the site and fear that project delays could shake shippers’ confidence in the city’s plan.
“My concern is that the decision making process is going to get dragged out and that perfection becomes the enemy of the good,” said John Nardi, president of the Shipping Association of New York and New Jersey. “The thing about ships is they float and they can go to other locations, so it’s important that we move quickly to give the shipping lines that call [at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal] the confidence that this is going to be a long term home for them.”
Aside from housing, the city’s redevelopment plan calls for 30 acres of public open space, more than 300,000 square feet for commercial space, 5,000 feet of coastal flood protections, expanded ferry and bus service, and more. EDC estimates the project could generate $12 billion in economic impacts for the region.
The city has already committed $80 million, and the state $15 million, for pier upgrades, an electrified crane and to build cold storage as part of the redevelopment. Most of the funding, however, would come from selling land to developers. The city has also secured a $164 million federal grant to build the project, for which the Adams administration says it will match with $109 million in new funds if the task force approves EDC’s vision for the terminal before July.
