Quantcast

Brooklyn Bridge Park delayed — again!

Brooklyn Bridge Park delayed — again!
The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler

The long-awaited first permanent section of Brooklyn Bridge Park has been delayed — again! — and will now open “in the spring,” Borough President Markowitz revealed in his “State of the Borough” address on Wednesday night.

The waterfront development’s Pier 1 recreation area at the foot of Old Fulton Street — the fruit of decades of planning and controversy — was originally scheduled to open in late 2009, but was pushed back until January.

And, Markowitz said, it’s been pushed back again — though neither the Beep nor the Empire State Development Corporation would say why.

ESDC spokeswoman Beth Mitchell would not explain the cause for the delay, but said that her agency would issue a statement “very soon” that would “make everything clear.”

At this point, one can only speculate: one cause for the new delay could be a bureaucratic squabble over the city’s potential takeover of the park, and Mayor Bloomberg’s promise to pony up $55 million to put construction on the fast track in exchange for some control of the park.

Mitchell couldn’t speak on the subject, and she wouldn’t contradict Markowitz’s statement, which actually touted the delay as some sort of achievement.

“Piers 1 and 6 will open in spring,” he said at the address. “Kudos, master planner [Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation President] Regina Myer.”

Pier 1 would be the first segment of a long-proposed 1.7-mile swath of greenspace and condos along the Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO waterfront. A delay in Pier 6, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue, had already been announced last year.

The remainder of the Brooklyn Bridge Park project, comprising four other piers and costing around $350 million total, has been put off the table until more funding can be lined up.

The opening of Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park has been delayed again. Maybe this spring, officials say.
The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler