BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Despite strong community opposition and a failure to secure state support, Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is moving forward with a plan to build two residential towers at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The board of directors for the city-run Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation will vote on the project Tuesday, June 7 at 9 a.m. The public meeting will be held at NYU Dibner Pfizer Auditorium, at 5 Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn.
This week, the city released its final plan for the two apartment buildings, which will be constructed by union workers, proposed for Pier 6 in the waterfront park.
The first building will be 28 stories and roughly 275,000 square-feet. It will have 126 residential condo units, a mayoral spokesman said.
The second building will be 14 or 15 stories and 135,000 square-feet, with 40 market-rate residential rentals and 100 affordable rental units. It will also hold 5,000 square-feet of retail space.
Additionally, public park restrooms will be built into the first building and about 10,000 square-feet of new converted park land would be built through the project.
The affordable units will be rented to those making between 80 to 165 percent of the area median income.
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The city also plans to site a pre-K center nearby.
"Whether it's vital funding for the park, pre-K space for our youngest students, securing good union jobs or building affordable housing, it's not every day that a project can deliver this much for a community. We intend to seize this opportunity" said mayoral spokesman Austin Finan.
Nearby residents have vehemently opposed the construction of towers at Pier 6 as well as the development of the Pierhouse in another part of the park.
They say that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which is chaired by Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, has repeatedly mislead the community.
"It is indefensible for the City to move forward with the plans to develop Pier 6," said community group Save the View Now in a statement.
The 1.3 mile waterfront park was built on the premise that income from residential and commercial development within the park would be required for its operation. But organized groups say further development, including the towers at Pier 6, would not be financially necessary for the park's maintenance.
"The Park is likely the most expensive per square foot to build and maintain in the world. If the Park's management cannot run the Park using the income already generated, then they should pack their desks and we should hire competent Park managers," the group said.
Another opposing group, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, is coordinating legal action for Pier 6.
The de Blasio administration also lacks support from the Empire Development Corporation, a state agency that reportedly declined to vote on the project.
Another set of residential towers are being proposed at the former Long Island College Hospital site near Pier 6, just up Atlantic Avenue on the other side of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
