New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, yesterday, joined 15 local civic organizations in demanding the City put a halt to its plans to bring 339 new units of affordable and luxury housing to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Under Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s plan, a 29- and 14-story high rise with the housing will be built on Pier 6 off the Atlantic Avenue entrance of the 85-acre waterfront park that stretches north to beneath the Manhattan Bridge.
When the park was first created, it included plans to build some housing to pay for the operating costs of the park, but opponents of de Blasio’s plans say that no more housing is need to fund the park.
“We could not be more clear: These housing towers are not needed to fund the park, and so, should not be built,” said Judi Francis, President of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, a long-standing coalition of local communities advocating the park.
Also joining in the criticism to build more housing in the park were State Senator Daniel Squadron and City Council Members Stephen Levin and Brad Lander.
“It’s rare to see this many community groups come together with such a unified voice. As the July 30th hearing made clear, this decade-old plan for Pier 6 based on outdated assumptions is wrong for our community and wrong for our park,” the three lawmakers said in a joint statement.
But De Blasio spokesperson Wiley Norvell said the administrations remains steadfast in plans for the housing.
“What’s at issue here is whether we have affordable housing for families in need at Pier 6, or whether there’s nothing but luxury housing. There’s no question in our minds we need to make this a community for everyone,” Norvell said in an emailed statement.
