City Wants More Power Over Brooklyn Bridge Park As Project Slides Into the Red
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As the city-and state-funded Brooklyn Bridge Park project breaks ground in coming weeks, the planned 85-acre parkland is facing substantial cost overruns, with a funding source yet to be found.
The development, which seeks to transform the Brooklyn industrial waterfront into a large public park joined by a planned 1,200 apartments, a 225-room hotel and retail and office space, is thought to now cost tens of millions of dollars more than the $150 million budgeted, multiple people involved with the project say.
“Since this project was originally scoped, construction costs have absolutely exploded,” the newly installed president of the state-led Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, Regina Myer, told The Observer. While Ms. Myer would not put a number on the budget shortfall, she said she was confident construction would begin shortly, and a portion of the park would open by 2009.
The recent movement on the park—Ms. Myer said she hoped to finalize contracts for early construction work within two weeks—comes after months of apparent inactivity, with costs rising all the while. The Spitzer administration ousted the previous development corporation president, Wendy Leventer, in early March, and installed Ms. Myer only in late November.
Advocates of the park said they are concerned that overruns could lead to cutbacks in the project’s scope—which envisions a waterfront esplanade, an area for kayaking and contoured green space along the East River—but a person involved with the project said that, for now, talk has centered around bringing in the extra funding from the city and the state.
The Bloomberg administration, offering to put up a large share of the needed money, has asked the state to consider a change in the governance structure for the development corporation, shifting more power to the city, a city official confirmed. The official said the city is awaiting a response from the state, which is facing a $4.3 billion budget gap.
The project, approved by the state in 2006, is meant to pay for its own maintenance and upkeep with payments made in lieu of taxes by six new and converted buildings in the footprint.
The model of development has drawn fire from a group of residents who are critical of the plan, given its reliance on private development bordering the public green space.
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The city is correct in wanting to change the governance of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The structure should be the same as that for Hudson River Park; equal participation by city and state, with some local designees, and the requirement of a super-majority so neither side can move without the other.
The issue arose in 2001, the last year of the Giuliani mayoralty. As Parks Commissioner, I objected to a plan where the state would dominate the park board, while the city would be expected to contribute financially. Mayor Giuliani supported that view, pointing to the success of Hudson River Park. In that case, the first chair of the park, James Ortenzio, had used his influence with Governor Pataki to free he park from the control of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), which was responsible for hundreds of other projects around the state.
Governor Pataki outlasted Mayor Giuliani by five years. (There are no term limits in state government.) Mayor Bloomberg took office in 2002 and appointed his own Parks
Commissioner, Adrian Benepe (a highly qualified career park person who has done a first-rate job for a parks-minded mayor).
The new administration consented to the Pataki plan for the park. I am pleased that in 2008 they have come to recognize its unfairness.
and I understand that in 2002, right after 9/11, the hope was to advance projects, particularly in or near downtown.
The progress made by Hudson River Park (on whose board I serve by appointment of Mayor Bloomberg) has been remarkable. Its executive officers are career civil servants and the park has been free from political interference.
Brooklyn Bridge Park has been delayed for years and is mired in controversy, particularly over a massive housing development just south of the park.
Since any change in the park's structure will require State legislation, the City should take its highly meritorious case to the powers that be in Albany. If the park is truly a city-state joint venture, like its older brother park, it will be more likely to be completed while we are still able to enjoy it.
While I agree with Mr. Stern (Stargazer blog) that we want to see a real park along the waterfront under the Brooklyn Bridge, he is wrong to put his eggs in the Benepe basket. This parks commissioner is the first to believe that private interests should trump public interests when it comes to public park lands. Consider the Randall's Island playing fields fiasco - a give away to private schools. (Henry, did you attend the city council hearings on that? Did you see the dozens of Harlem and Bronx school children who came to testify about how they were driven from their baseball games by private school children who came in their private coaches?) Consider the current debacle in the Bronx with the demolition of 26 acres of public park lands for the Yankee's nearly private/exclusive-use parking garage (and the current news that there will not be enough revenue generated from this garage to rebuild the public park). Or the gross cost overruns and park land give away in Washington Square. Mr. Benepe is the first to advocate for private housing inside of public parks - which for Brooklyn has reduced our true 2001 park plan to a green esplanade surrounding 6 high-rise luxury residential towers, and the elimination of year round recreation (because people who live inside public parks will not want the public congregating on their front lawn, making noise and trampling "their" scrubs). A much better solution to Brooklyn Bridge Park is to have a real parks department oversee it (and not an "Economic Development Corporation"). A true park advocate, Carol Ash, who now heads NY State's Parks and Recreation, might be the best person (and State Agency) to secure a real park for Brooklyn.
Judi Francis, President of BB Park Defense Fund
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