Tom Fox of the City Club walks through a counter-plan for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Cobble Hill last week. (Photo: City Club of NY)

By Jack Delaney | jdelaney@queensledger.com

COBBLE HILL — An influential nonprofit is doubling down on what might either be a quixotic mission, doomed to fail, or a significant turning point in the borough’s modern history: pushing the city to scrap its current $3.5 billion plan for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT), and instead embrace a proposal that goes all-in on maritime industry.

The groundwork has been laid for some time. Ever since the Port Authority agreed to transfer the 122-acre site south of Brooklyn Bridge Park to the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in 2024, Red Hook residents have been advocating for a revival of the neighborhood’s port infrastructure, which fell into decline in the 1970s after operations moved to New Jersey.

But on Thursday, January 15, the City Club of New York officially entered the fray, with board member Tom Fox presenting a 15-page plan at the Kane Street Synagogue in Cobble Hill.

The proposal is notable for several reasons, chief among them the fact that its competition — a framework designed by the EDC — already passed last September, after months of protests by residents who argued that the engagement process was a sham.

The current BMT plan was greenlit by a 28-person task force on a razor-thin margin after two members, Council Member Shahana Hanif and Borough President Antonio Reynoso, shifted their stance. It is now progressing through the state’s environmental review protocol, with the window for public feedback set to conclude in March.

Some residents have mused that Mayor Zohran Mamdani could halt the BMT project, bolstered by the fact that he has yet to name the new leadership of the EDC. The mayor has not commented on the matter, however, and the massive redevelopment — which is projected to wrap by 2040 at the earliest — is proceeding, despite a lawsuit filed last week by three residents of the Columbia Street Waterfront District.

The City Club’s counter-plan hinges on “Blue Highways,”  a movement to reduce truck traffic within NYC by relying on local shipping. While the plan agrees with many of the EDC’s proposals, it rebukes the move to build 6000 units of housing and instead advocates for a fully revamped port that encompasses the entire site.

You can find the full plan here.