Private Housing Needed to Pay for Brooklyn Bridge Park: Report

Residents along southen Brooklyn's waterfront and the surrounding communities have been fighting for the development of Brooklyn Bridge Park for many years. While the park is slowly being built, with all the time, how the park will pay for itself is the big question.

On Thursday, the final report on how to pay for the park was issued. The study concludes that more private housing within the 85-acre park is the only way to pay for continued maintenance of it.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has proposed building private housing developments to pay for the park, which unlike other city parks, must pay for its own maintenance.

"This report calls the city's commitment to completing the park into question," said State Senator Daniel Squadron. 

In December, the Committee on Alternatives to Housing, formed in part because of residents' overwhelming desire for a park that is just a park, . One alternative was the study of the Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower Properties, which are said to be going up for sale soon, and are adjacent to the park. If the properties become residential, the now tax-exempt properties have the potential to be revenue-generating.

But when the first draft of the report was released in February, the 

In the final report, the Watchtower Properties were looked at by Bay Area Economics, the consulting group hired by the Corportation.

They concluded:

"A conservative assumption was made that this alternative has no revenue potential for the Park."

The housing developments planned by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation are expected to bring in $8 million in revenue. The park’s anticipated maintenance budget is $16.1 million.

While the other alternatives studied, including a Park Improvement District (PID) fee, applied to residential and commercial properties within a 1/4 mile radius of the park, recreation facilities, events, concessions, commercial real estate, sponsorships, fundraising and parking were studied and concluded to generate about $7 annually, that number is not enough to pay for the park.

The Committee on Alternatives to Housing will meet this Tuesday, June 14 at 2 p.m. at the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights Branch to vote on whether or not to pass the report on to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Board for review. The meeting is open to the public, but no public comments will be taken.

Senator Squadron and Assemblywoman Joan Millman have veto power over more housing in the park. It is unclear whether they will use it, though in May Squadron said he wouldn't take any options off the table.

"In the end, we'll have to decide what's best for the community," he said.