One would have to be a hopeless curmudgeon not to support the idea of a ribbon of parkland along the Brooklyn waterfront.
So it’s no wonder that the idea of turning the underused piers into a first-class park stretching from the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue has nearly universal appeal.
But the devil lurks in the details of how a site goes from green sketches in a landscape architect’s notebook to hosting soccer games and kayak races.
In the case of Brooklyn Bridge Park, the devil’s in the form of a decision made by state planners to include luxury housing within the “park” — private housing that is supposed to pay for regular maintenance of public green space.
Lately, it is becoming clear that the Empire State Development Corporation — which is New York’s business-development agency, not a park-building entity, by the way — has far more interest in supporting the private developers eager to build housing within the site than supporting the community members who have for two decades planned and designed an actual park.
Last week, for example, a member of the newly hired design team admitted that the residential buildings — not the park itself — would create the “identity” of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Imagine an architect saying that about Central or Prospect parks.
As a result, community members who want a genuine park are suspicious when state planners claim just a few new residential buildings will pay for maintaining it. In the past, authorities have suggested that if there is a shortfall in revenues — as there inevitably will be — the solution will be to build more housing within the park.
Such admissions make it clear that Brooklyn Bridge Park is more likely to evolve not into a world-class green space, but a front lawn for luxury tenants.
It’s no wonder that the owner of the former Watchtower laundry facility at 360 Furman St. lobbied to get his building included within the “park” — then promptly changed the name of the building to “One Brooklyn Bridge Park” and highlighted the park’s supposedly public amenities in his marketing materials.
Why not? What was always billed as a public park is really just a publicly subsidized playground for his tenants.
Unless the state changes its approach, Brooklyn Bridge Park will end up little different than Battery Park City — a string of green surrounded by tall buildings that is used primarily by the people who live there, not a park for the entire community.
