Follow-Up to Sen. Gounardes // Mar 24 (Meeting held Mar 19)
2025-03-24
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Board of Managers
New York Dock Building
160 Imlay Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
March 24, 2025
Andrew Gounardes
New York State Senator
497 Carroll Street, Suite 31
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Subject: Thank You and Follow-up Comments / Questions
Dear Senator Gounardes,
On behalf of the residents of the New York Dock Building at 160 Imlay Street, we would like to sincerely thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to meet with our community — one that is both financially invested in and passionate about Red Hook. We greatly appreciate the time and effort that you and the taskforce at large are dedicating to engaging with us directly, and we recognize the complexity of balancing the many competing interests in the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
To reiterate at a high-level, our building’s desires and interests are the following:
● Designating a significant footprint of greenspace on Pier 11 for residents and tourists
● Defining a height limitation for any future construction on Pier 11 that may limit views
● Limiting quality of life impacts created by any future construction and industrial use along the waterfront
● Improving and expanding infrastructure to responsibly support a growing Red Hook community
The information that you provided in our March 19 meeting provided much clarity about our interests and questions. That said, we have the following outstanding questions and would greatly appreciate any further information you may be able to share.
● Financial Model – We have heard a lot about how housing is the only viable solution to generating enough revenue to balance the $2.3 billion investment in port improvement. Is this because the 99-year lease that city / state plans to issue will include a revenue-sharing clause allowing the city / state to collect a percentage of the business or rental income generated by the property? We ask because we are curious why other ideas (e.g., performance center, satellite university campus) are not viable.○
In addition, we as community members do not understand why we have to suffer (i.e., from increased volume of housing) in order for the city / state to compensate for its $2.3 billion investment in port improvement. What other funding mechanisms (e.g., grants, budget) has the city / state looked into instead of housing (or other 99-year lease scenarios) and why do they not work? Based on recent forums, we have heard Pratt Institute question the concept of a governmental agency building (selling land) for unwanted and unneeded housing in areas (without proper feasibility) in order to remedy neglected structures.
● Staten Island Precedent – Has the EDC / Taskforce looked into the Staten Island waterfront as precedent for volume / density?
● Testing Before Building – What market research / market tests does the EDC / Taskforce plan to do to ensure whatever is built will actually succeed rather than building for buildings sake? We are concerned about the economic feasibility of a hotel, retail and restaurants, particularly because current cruise patrons (e.g., MSC) do not use existing hospitality services in the neighborhood. We do not want to see urban blight / empty spaces after buildings are built.
● Blue Highway – How can the community support the blue highway concept?
Lastly, in an effort to be a collaborator, we wanted to offer the following ideas. If the EDC / Taskforce has already considered these, we would like to better understand why they are not viable.
● A multi-use (e.g., sports, culture) campus
● A satellite or extension of an existing university campus for specialized education and employment in technology artificial intelligence / sustainability with focus on river / maritime
● A way to integrate green space into required uses (i.e., accessible green roofs with playgrounds over cruise terminal / cold storage).
○ Example here: https://www.dezeen.com/2025/02/11/heatherwick-studio-renders-belvedere-park-louisville-kentucky/
● A way to integrate commerce into parks (e.g., Pier 11 retail pavilions) that could also integrate sports equipment rentals (e.g., ice skates, paddles and balls)
We look forward to the opportunity to continue working collaboratively to shape a thoughtful, sustainable future for Red Hook.
Sincerely,
John Mealy
President, Board of Managers
New York Dock Building
160 Imlay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231