At Brooklyn Bridge Park, community wants input
by Sarah Klein
Sep 23, 2009 | 1137 views | 0 0 comments | 24 24 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Community Board 6 voted unanimously at a general meeting Wednesday to support the creation of a community advisory committee for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation.

The committee would provide community input to the state-appointed agency in charge of designing the plans for an 85-acre park on the Brooklyn waterfront. The first phase of the park’s construction is underway.

The park officially falls within the boundaries of Community Board 2, but as CB6 directly abuts the park, the board’s members have plenty of opinions about the construction. They argued that the formation of an advisory committee would give area residents a way to voice their concerns about the ongoing project.

“There’s still a lot of flexibility in their planning,” said CB6 Secretary Elly Spicer. “It is still really a work in progress.

“I think if there is a particular body to address these things to, it’s a great way for us to stay up to date on what their progress is and in some cases potentially what the slowdown is,” added Spicer.

Among the biggest concerns is a continued worry that plans for the state- and city-funded park will exceed the budget by about $120 million. Community board members are also following plans to build housing and hotels within the park.

The original plans called for 1,200 high-rise condos. Along with proposed hotels within the park’s footprint, the combined residential space would take up as much as one-tenth of the designated parkland.

Plans to build the first 780 units, plus a 225-room hotel, are currently on hold due to the financial strains of the recession.

Community members said moving forward they want more input in the developer’s plans. Craig Hammerman, CB6’s district manager, said he believed the city and state agencies funding the park’s construction would support an advisory committee.

“They would appreciate us adopting a motion along these lines,” Hammerman said.

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