Brooklyn Bridge Park Advocate Foe Sen. Dan Squadron Resigns

March 22, 2010.  The Gang's All Here.  Officials including Dan Squadron (far left) at the ceremonial ribbon cutting on a drizzly morning.  "The City does not have the money to have new parks and fund them," Mayor Bloomberg famously said. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)    Click on images to enlarge.

Brooklyn/Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

One of the villains in the fight for control of Brooklyn Bridge Park is resigning from his State Senate seat. 

Good riddance say long time Brooklyn Bridge Park supporters. 

This morning controversial State Senator Sen. Dan Squadron sent out a message announcing his sudden resignation effective this Friday. 

Squadron incurred the wrath of Brooklyn Bridge Park advocates in 2011when he cut a behind closed door deal with the Bloomberg administration which gave up his veto power over allowing housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

Staunch park advocate Judi Francis worked behind the scenes on the state level to achieve veto power over future housing development in the park.  

“He told no one,” Judi Francis said of the betrayal. “It was a body blow to the community,” she said.

“He was able to knock 30 feet off the top of one building, that’s what he got for giving up his veto (power) over three buildings that were on the books and any other future buildings in the park,”  Francis said.   

As part of the deal he also helped negotiate a pop-up pool for five years for the park, an RFP for a year-round recreational facility which never went anywhere and two tennis courts that were supposed to be built on top of a maintenance building but were not.  A Community Advisory Council (CAC)  was also established, an entity Ms. Francis calls, “totally dysfunctional.”

“In 2011 he gave up the most powerful thing a legislator can have which is complete veto power over a development project inside public lands,"  she said.

“After much reflection, I have decided to lend my hand to make a difference in states across the country, pushing policies and candidates that will create a fairer and more democratic future,” Squadron wrote today. 

“It’s not possible to take on this challenge and continue to be a full-time legislator, which is what I always promised I would be," he said. 

Squadron has represented the 26th District which covers parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn since 2008.   The vacant seat will be filled in this November’s election. 

While running for the Senate he ran on a platform promising to fight residential development housing in the park. 

Squadron defeated incumbent Senate Minority Leader Martin Connor who served for 30 years, receiving 54% of the vote, a victory many say was won in large part with the help of Brooklyn Bridge Park supporters on the housing issue.  (Bloomberg endorsed Squadron for Public Advocate)

He further infuriated park advocates in 2013 when it was revealed in the media that he accepted more than $ 65,000 from supporters of a residential development inside the park,  He took in contributions from members Brooklyn Bridge Conservancy and several Brooklyn Bridge Development Corp.  board members as well as the president of Brooklyn Bridge Park, Regina Myer. 

The betrayal sill resonates today.  

“Six years ago on August 1st, this man gave up his mighty veto over BBP housing,”  Judi Francis said in a statement.

"Just over two years after his election - an election won on the principle of no housing inside our public parks and won by our advocacy to protect BBP from further housing and using our advocacy to point out the many, many ways to pay for the park. He gave up the veto we had lobbied the state to give to him. Why? To further his own unbridled and unprincipled ambition for his own personal gains,"  she wrote. 

Squadron’s wife Elizabeth “Liz” Weinstein rose to head the Mayor Bloomberg's Office of Operations.

In 2013 Squadron also introduced legislation that would have forced non-profit park groups to allocate a percentage of their incomes to other parks. 

That idea was quickly dismissed. 

Squadron previous worked as a staffer on Congressman Anthony Weiner’s 2005 mayoral campaign. In 2013 he ran unsuccessfully for New York Public Advocate a position won by Letitia James who hammered his flip flop on housing in the park.

“We are happy to see him go,”  said Francis who has worked for more than thirty years to acheive a "real  park" when reached by phone.

The City and State's refusel to take responsibly to fund the park's annual maintiance has been at the forfront of the more than decade long fight.

"The City does not have the money to have new parks and fund them," Mayor Bloomberg famously said at the opening of Brooklyn Bridge Park on March 22, 2010.

In 2010 the Bloomberg administration negoiated a $ 55 million dollar deal to hand over control of the former City/State Brooklyn Bridge Park project to the city.  By insisting that the park be "self-sustaining"  as a condition for the city taking control, the administration successfully achieved one of its most sought after goals – to inherit NY State's funding scheme its employes for the maintenance and operation of its public parkland. 

Much of the funding for the operation of NY State's parks is paid from concession and fee revenue. One of the most contentious issues with Brooklyn Bridge Park is the inclusion of housing that the government insists is necessary to pay for the park's operation.

Remember The Stunning Views - July 29, 2013. The panoramic views have been replaced by housing.


Read More:

Park Disparity Funding Solution According To Daniel Squadron - 
Have Central Park Foot the Bill

A Walk In The Park - March 29, 2014 

Squadron & Millman Sell Out In Deal With City To Bring More Housing To Brooklyn Bridge Park

A Walk In The Park - August 2, 2011 

Brooklyn Bridge “PID" Funding Scheme Dead In The Water

A Walk In The Park - February 22, 2011 

Bloomberg Rejects Proposal For The City To Pay To Maintain Brooklyn 

Bridge Park - Taxes Eyed 

A Walk In The Park - December 21, 2010

More Housing Likely For Brooklyn Bridge Park- Report

A Walk In The Park - June 10, 2011

Bloomberg Rejects Proposal For The City To Pay To Maintain Brooklyn 
Bridge Park - Taxes Eyed

A Walk In The Park - December 21, 2010

No Housing In Brooklyn Bridge Park Critics Assert Once Again

 A Walk In The Park - December 1, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft 
 

Bloomy’s Takeover Does Not Ensure A Real Brooklyn Bridge Park - Editorial

 A Walk In The Park - March 11, 2010 
 

City Get Its Wish - State Park Funding Mechanism For Brooklyn Bridge Park

A Walk In The Park - March 9, 2010

Brooklyn Bridge Park Executive Raises As high As 50%

Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation saw her base salary jump to $190,550 in 2014 from $165,000.   She oversees 85 acres of parkland. City Parks commissioner Mitchell Silver receives a salary of $ 208,000. He is responsible for 30,000 acres of parkland.

Brooklyn

Executive members of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. received raises as high as nearly 50% between 2013 and 2014, reigniting criticism of their insistence that residential development is needed to pay the park's expenses.

Regina Myer, president of the corporation overseeing the park, saw her base salary bumped to $190,550 in 2014 from $165,000, for example, while General Counsel Suma Mandel got a raise to $125,278 from $85,000, according to publicly available records.

The raises approved during the Bloomberg administration ranged from 11% to 47%, but were not nearly enough to have changed park managers' calculations about how to maintain the waterfront property. The base salary increase for five of the seven executive members totaled $118,990—a fraction of what the corporation predicts will be the $16 million annual operating cost.

But the board did not appear to have discussed the raises in any public meetings. And the revelation that they received a bump while pushing for residential development to fund operations and maintenance has given fresh ammunition to a community group fighting a pair of apartment towers planned for the park’s Pier 6, near the terminus of Atlantic Avenue.

“I find it hard to understand how this park can offer such employee pay increases when similar city agencies haven't awarded any pay raises at all in years, all the while this park is claiming that they don't have enough money and therefore need to build more housing,” said Todd Castilow, a nominated member of Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Advisory Council, who researched the salary information in public databases.

The new salaries of the executive team are roughly in line with those of counterparts at the city Department of Parks and Recreation and other organizations. Hudson River Park Trust head Madelyn Wils, for example, earned $175,000 in total pay in 2014, according to SeeThroughNY. In other cases, executives at Brooklyn Bridge Park still made less. After her nearly 50% raise, Mandel made about $35,000 less than the general counsel at the Parks Department, a much larger agency with 5,000 properties and 2.6 million trees.

"The salaries reported here are entirely appropriate and consistent with those of park staff across the city," a spokesman for the corporation said in a statement. "This is simply another attempt by a small handful of Pier 6 project opponents to distract from the real issues facing the park."

Staff salaries are proposed by Myer and approved by the board of directors, which also determines and approves the salary for the president, the corporation said, adding that the compensation was approved as part of the operating budget in a public meeting. In addition, salaries topping $100,000 are reported annually to a state budget office.

Dick Dadey, head of the good-government group Citizens Union, said that while executives who run parks should be fairly compensated, government institutions such as the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. should take care to be transparent about wages, especially when engaged in a protracted battle such as the years-long disagreement about how much development is needed to fund upkeep and operations. Dadey sits on the board of the park’s advocacy arm, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, which is separate from the corporation.

“The more transparent an operation is, the less subject it is to accusations that it is hiding something,” said Dadey. “And when the park corporation is under attack as it is, it’s even more important to be as up-front about decisions that it makes.”

Opponents of housing in the park believe that the state will soon vote on the proposed development at Pier 6. It calls for two buildings to be constructed by the team of RAL Development Services and Oliver Realty Group.

Read More:

High costs of maintaining Brooklyn Bridge Park didn't stop its execs from getting big raises

Comptroller To Brooklyn Bridge Park - Explore Using Bonds To Pay For Capital Improvements

The Change Would Dramatically Alter The Park's Current Financial Model 

Rendering of the proposed 31 and 15-story towers at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation is trying to justify the need to build this additional housing to help pay for the park.  The City's Comptroller's office has asked the corporation that oversees Brooklyn Bridge Park to explore the possibility of issuing bonds to finance future capital improvements instead.

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

The office of the City Comptroller Scott Stringer has asked the corporation that oversees Brooklyn Bridge Park to look into the feasibility of issuing bonds to finance future capital improvements. 

If adopted the move would remove Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation's (BBPC) stated rational for developing the controversial Pier 6 project.  Opponents of the housing want the three acres developed into additional parkland. 

Yesterday First Deputy Comptroller Alaina Gilligo wrote to Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn  Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC) and raised the issue of whether the corporation can access the municipal bond market for capital needs financing. 

"Since the public hearing on August 6, 2015, the Comptroller's office has received inquries from community stakeholders concerning whether BBPC may use tax-exempt or taxable bonds to finance Brooklyn Bridges Park's capital needs that would then be repaid by BBPC,"  the September 16th letter states. 

"Proponents of bond financing believe that the mechanism could fill the financial gap until the BBPC generates a surplus from concessions and Payment's in Lieu of Taxes ("PILOT'S"). 

The Comptroller's office found that BBPC may be able to issue tax-exempt bonds through an arrangement with a governmental agency to finance park capital improvements. 

"Because BBPC is a New York non-for-profit corporation, it may be able to issue tax-exempt bonds through a conduit governmental agency such as Build NYC Resources Corporation ("Build NYC")  — an arm of the New York City Economic Development Corporation ("EDC") — to finance park capital improvements. "  

The Comptroller's office wrote that the issue requires further analysis and advises BBPC to seek formal outside legal advise.  

Several elected officials who represent the area had asked the Comptroller's office to look into the feasibility of issuing the bonds to cover capital improvements. 

The move would dramatically change the park's current funding model which relies on money generated from real estate, including "PILOT'S",  concessions, and park fees. 

Issuing bonds to finance capital improvements would bring the park in line with the rest of the city park system which the BBPC is unlikely to support voluntarily.  

The corporation claims the funds from the proposed new housing are necessary to ensure the park's long term fiscal stability including maintaining the park's 13, 400 pilings under its piers.  

Open space advocates have long argued that the heavily utilized park should be funded by the government and not by funding schemes. 

The model of paying for the park with housing has been the subject of bitter debate since Mayor Bloomberg wrestled control of the park from the Governor and adopted a "self sustaining" model which has dramatically changed the development and operation of the park.   

Critics also point out that the current funding mechanism creates enormous disparities between the haves and the haves nots, including the well funded Brooklyn Bridge Park and the vast majority of other parks which rely on chronically underfunded municipal funding.  Mayor de Blasio has repeatedly said he was against these disparities. 

Until very recently the General Project Plan (GPP) allowed for building in the park only if a financial need could be demonstrated, which critics maintain they have no done.   

Initially just high-rise luxury housing, Mayor de Blasio added an affordable housing component which the administration had hoped would make the controversial plan easier to swallow. That has not happened.

In June the BBPC awarded the Pier 6 project to developer Robert Levine,  President & CEO of RAL Development Services weeks after Levine donated $10,000 to the mayor’s fundraising committee.  Levine is also the developer of controversial One Brooklyn Bridge Park.

All in the Family:  Prospect Park Alliance flack,  and former New Yorkers for Parks spokesperson James Yolles heads up pr for developer Robert Levine for Risa Heller Communications. Risa tried in vein to help Major League Soccer seize parkland in Flushing Meadow Corona Park to build a new stadium. Belinda Cape,  formerly from State Senator Daniel Squadron office is heading up pr for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation team.  

In May Comptroller Scott Stringer wrote to Regina Myer asking the BBPC provide greater financial transparency including a longer term projections. The office has requested a 50-year  revenue, operating expenses including the capital repair costs projections. 

Read More:

Public Meeting On Controversial Housing Plan Expansion In Brooklyn Bridge Park Set For Tonight

A Walk In The Park -  July 30, 2015 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Developers Want To Raise Building To Avoid Future Hurricane Flooding

Rendering of the Toll Brothers/Starwood Capital Group's controversial 159-apartment, 200-room hotel project  to be built in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  For years community and park advocates have fought to prevent housing developments from being built inside the park. 

The city's elected officials refuse to allocate the necessary funds required to maintain the park so the Bloomberg administration launched a funding scheme to allow this developement they say will raise $3.3 million towards the park's annual maintenance budget they claim is a massive $16 million. 

Brooklyn 

These guys want to put their Brooklyn Bridge Park plans on a pedestal.

The developers tapped to bring a hotel and residential complex to Pier 1 near Old Fulton St are planning for a future Hurricane Sandy by raising both buildings up at least three feet to avoid the massive flood damage that devastated the surrounding DUMBO neighborhood during last October’s super-storm, according to the New York Post. 

David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president at developer Toll Brothers, said the 159-apartment, 200-room hotel project — which would raise a $3.3 million chunk of the park’s $16 million annual maintenance budget — will now include additional steps and ramps leading to the main lobby and more masonry to ensure the building is above the site’s flood plain set by the feds.

Mechanical systems that normally are in basements will be moved to the roof. A basement will still be built but will be primarily used for parking.

“We want to make our building a structure that can survive any kind of storm,” said Von Spreckelsen, whose company is partnering with Starwood Capital Group in the development.

The development was supposed to break ground in February but is on hold until both Toll Brothers and Starwood complete the redesign.

Regina Myer, president of the city development corporation overseeing the 85-acre park’s construction, said she’s “comfortable” with the developers’ progress and confident that – despite the wrath of Sandy - the park would eventually be able to select a developer and move forward with other high-rise condo complexes planned for Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights and John Street in DUMBO.

Myer said the park suffered about $1 million in damage from Sandy – mostly lighting and other electrical work – that is nearly fixed, adding “the park did very well” considering parks citywide suffered a total of $750 million in damage.

However, Cobble Hill activist Judi Francis said the storm proved just how bad a spot the waterfront park is to build more housing.

“The lesson of Sandy is it will happen again, and when it happens, it will be really bad for those residents who wind up buying condos there,” she said.

Read More:

Developers want to raise proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park 

complex three feet to avoid massive flood damage

New York Post - February 22, 2013 - By Rich Calder  

Union Fight Over Building New Luxury Hotel And Condos In Brooklyn Bridge Park

Hotel and Motel Trade Council members protest a new luxury hotel and condo tower to be built by Starwood Capital Group and Toll Brothers in Brooklyn Bridge Park because it will likely not be built or run by union workers. 

For years community and park advocates have fought to prevent housing developments from being built inside the park.


Brooklyn

A new luxury hotel and condo tower at the gleaming Brooklyn Bridge Park will likely not be built or run by union workers, according to the New York Daily News.  

The labor organizations representing hotel staffers and construction workers say they have been stonewalled by the developers selected for the controversial Pier 1 complex--Toll Brothers City Living and Starwood Capital Group.

At stake are an estimated 210 permanent jobs and 300 construction jobs at the waterfront park. 

“This is a luxury hotel on prime public land,” said Josh Gold, political director for the hotel trades council.

"We want to make sure that the jobs that are created are good jobs with real benefits that keep New Yorkers in the middle class.”  

Last year, there were seven bids for the project from different developers, according to records. Five of those proposals would likely have included using union workers, union officials said.  Park officials promised to give preference to developers with a good labor history. 

“I think we would be setting a terrible precedent to allow a project like this, which is on public land, to not include really basic job protections for employees who work there on the site,” said City Councilman Steve Levin (D-Greenpoint).  

Brooklyn Bridge Park President Regina Myer said talks with the developer are ongoing.   

Rendering of the Toll Brothers/Starwood Capital Group's controversial 159-apartment, 200-room hotel project  to be built in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

The city's elected officials refuse to allocate the necessary funds required to maintain the park so the Bloomberg administration launched a funding scheme they say will raise $3.3 million towards the park's annual maintenance budget they claim is a massive $16 million. 

“We've been working with Starwood on this item,” she told the park's board at a Wednesday meeting near Pier 1.

“Starwood is willing to enter negotiations. The issue is timing,” she said, noting the building design has not been finalized. 

Union officials scoffed at that excuse, pointing out that they already have initial labor agreements with the developer at Willets Point and for a potential new soccer stadium in Queens. 

The hotel and condo development are set to open in fall 2015.

Both developers declined to comment. 

At issue is a state law passed in 2009. 

The Public Authority Reform Act requires developers on public land sign a "labor peace" agreement, which typically leads to union workers being hired. Union officials and pols say that law applies to the parks project too. 

Brooklyn Bridge officials insist the law doesn’t apply to the park because of its unique financing situation. The hotel and condo were added to the glitzy new waterfront park with killer views of Manhattan as part of a 2002 agreement with city and state pols as a way to generate cash. 

Maintaining the 85-acre park and restoring its five old piers is expected to cost $16 million annually, with the development projected to provide $3.3 million annually.   

Read More:

New luxury hotel and condo at the gleaming Brooklyn Bridge Park on path

to be built by non-union labor- More than 500 jobs at stake  

New York Daily News -  February 20, 2013  - By Reuven Blau 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Goes Dark After Sandy - Temporary Lighting?

The city's $ 300 million dollar park has been allowed to go dark after Hurricane Sandy. The public is now being kicked out after 4:30pm.

The article did not address the most obvious solution - deploying temporary lighting in the park. The portable equipment is currently being rented by the thousands by numerous agencies for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.  They are also a staple at special events in public spaces including many parks.   DOT, NYPD and the Parks Department are among the agencies that posses them.

Brooklyn

Sandy blew out the lights at Brooklyn Bridge Park — now closing’s at dusk instead of 1 a.m. Fuming parkgoers kicked out around 4:30 p.m, according to the New York Daily News. 

Brooklyn’s gleaming new waterfront park is dark — and the neighbors are mad. Brooklyn Bridge Park has been closing at dusk - 430-p.m.-ish these days - ever since Superstorm Sandy knocked out the electricity.

Park officials said repairs will be a long time coming. The popular shorefront recreation spot might not return to its normal 1 a.m. closing time until spring when the lighting system is fixed, a park official said.

That’s riled up residents of DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens who consider the 85-acre oasis their go-to place for walking and jogging after work.

 “These people should have been prepared for this natural disaster,” said Mark Young, 42, a park regular who lives on Jay St. in DUMBO.

“They need to fix the lighting ASAP,” he fumed.

But the repair job can’t be rushed because of the “complexity” of the park’s lighting system, spokeswoman Teresa Gonzalez said. Until the work is done the sundown shutdown is a must, she said:

“Proper lighting of the park in the evening is a public safety issue we take very seriously.”


The light towers doubled as a charging stations during Hurricane Sandy.


The fix-up may take until spring because specialized equipment must be ordered and lead times are long, she said. The shopping list is lengthy; transformers, switch gear, breakers and fuses all need to be replaced. Equipment that didn’t have to be thrown away must be taken apart and cleaned to get rid of salty residue that flood waters left behind.

Prompted by 4:28 p.m. December sunsets, Brooklyn Bridge Park workers patrol the grounds telling visitors to leave. Their vigilance has ended evening walks on the shoreline for Nora Lidgus, boyfriend Jer Thorp and their dog Trapper John.

“We’re bummed out,” said Lidgus, 31. “We’re trying to wait patiently.”

The couple live on Plymouth St. in DUMBO — where Thorp, 37, finds neighborhood streets are full of dog owners displaced from the park when he takes Trapper John out for 10 p.m. strolls.

“We know our dog-walking isn’t a priority — but hopefully we can get back in the park soon,” he said wistfully.

Jen Masterson, 35, is upset she’s shut out of her favorite park at night. “I miss it,” said the Main St. DUMBO resident who brings her dog Blue to the park’s dog run. “I’m from New Hampshire,” she said.

“This park is ‘nature’ for me.”

Read More:

Sandy blew out the lights at Brooklyn Bridge Park — now closing’s at dusk instead of 1 a.m. 
Fuming parkgoers kicked out around 4:30 p.m.
New York Daily News - December 6, 2012 - By Lore Croghan

Brooklyn Bridge Park Foot Bridge From Squibb Park Progresses

A rendering of the wooden foot bridge that will connect Columbia Heights to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The $ 4.9 structure is part of a  450-foot-long route that descends from Squibb Park to Pier 1 which will also accommodate wheelchair users.

Brooklyn

It’s an express route to Brooklyn Bridge Park — with no cars allowed.

A wooden foot bridge like a boardwalk in the sky could be open by New Year’s Eve, park officials said Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News.

It will give residents of Brooklyn Heights — and visitors arriving via the High St. A and C subway station — faster access to the popular waterfront park.

“We’re isolated from much of the community by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway,” said Brooklyn Bridge Park president Regina Myer.

“We want more connections to them.”

She and local pols gave reporters a sneak peek at construction being done to complete the $4.9 million walkway through the tree tops. Its starting point is Squibb Park, the skateboarders’ haven on Columbia Heights past the end of Middagh St.


Squibb Park (r.) will be starting point for foot bridge to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The bridge's concrete support foundations have recently sprouted up, three of which can be seen in the photo. (Photo: Allison Joyce For the New York Daily News)


From there the bridge will swoop over Furman St. 40 feet above the blacktop — with killer views of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan skyscrapers — and descend to the Pier 1 waterfront.

The placement of the bridge just two blocks from Brooklyn Heights’ famed Promenade is “important psychologically,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights).

“It says to everyone who comes to the Promenade, ‘Brooklyn Bridge Park is yours too,’” he explained.

Cyclists stand warned: Bike-riding on the eight-foot-wide span is verboten; bikes must be walked across it. Construction crews will hang the wooden bridge over Furman St. the weekend of Dec. 15; the road will be closed one night for several hours.

Tall concrete supports for the bridge have been planted in the earth while workers put finishing touches on bridge spans, which stand on temporary scaffolding on Pier 1.

A reporter climbed up on the spans for a test walk; the boards were springy underfoot. Protective stainless steel mesh screens that will be attached to the sides of the bridge will be just 42 inches high but its designer Ted Zoli doesn’t think there’s a big risk of suicides.

“Jumpers are not drawn to pedestrian bridges,” he said. There’s a 50-foot drop from Squibb Park to Pier 1. But twists and turns in the 450-foot-long route will make the descent gradual and easy for wheelchair users to handle.

Lack of funding delayed bridge construction until City Council members and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz allocated $4.9 million for it. The fancy foot bridge is one of a slew of amenities being added to the 85-acre city park.

On Pier 3 crews are getting ready to shape thousands of tons of landfill into hills that will dampen the noise from the BQE.

Read More:

A new boardwalk in the sky will link Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Promenade  

Wooden foot bridge from Squibb Park will zig zag to the waterfront

New York Daily News - December 5, 2012 - By Lore Croghan 

Squibb Playground Pedestrian Bridge To Brooklyn Bridge Park Approved

A Walk In The Park - November 19, 2010 

Not-For-Profit Offers To Donate $ 40 Mil. To Build Recreation Facility In Brooklyn Bridge Park

Proposed site for an indoor pay-to play recreation center field house along Furman Street and Montague streets. Today the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation announced that the New York City Fieldhouse Inc. a not-for-profit corporation, offered to underwrite the design and construction costs of a year-round, multi-use recreation facility near Pier 5. The facility is estimated to cost $40 million and represents one of the largest donations ever made to a New York City park, according to Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. The building above, now used for storage, would be raised and replaced by another one story structure.

One of the major complaints about the Brooklyn Bridge Park plan has been the lack of indoor year-round recreation facilities for the community.

"We just got approval to go public," said Maureen Connelly, of Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz a PR firm who's been very involved with the project.

According to Ms. Connelly they looked at a number of different locations in and around the city including Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Mill Pond Park along the Bronx River, Williamsburg, and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. She said the process took three years to get to this point.

Ms. Connelly said one of the main reasons for choosing this location was because people in the community had been, "clamoring for indoor recreation."

"This is vindication for 7 long years of community activism to secure year round recreational facilities in Brooklyn Bridge Park," said Judi Francis, President of the coalition of community associations that organized 30 years ago to secure a public park along the shores of the east river under the Brooklyn Bridge.

"When private condos were introduced inside the park's borders, we thought a real park would never be realized. Today's generous gift is from heaven and we are so very grateful to Mr. Reshnicz for answering our call."

New York City Fieldhouse hopes to break ground in the Summer of 2014 with construction expected to take between 18-24 months.

Joshua Rechnitz's family including his late grandparents, Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn, have had a long philanthropic history of giving in the city. These gifts include to a number of museums, and the renovation of the East 72nd Street playground in Central Park.

According to the press release the Fieldhouse is envisioned to include a 115,000 sq. ft. indoor recreation center with a 200-meter inclined track for cycling and a 22,000 sq. ft. infield for high school, collegiate, club-level and professional sporting events, such as basketball, tennis, track cycling, volleyball, and gymnastics. It also includes key amenities for the park such as a public boathouse, public restrooms, and maintenance and operations space for BBPC.

Facility Revenue

The facility must generate sufficient revenue to be self-sustaining long term.

The funds generated from activities and events will be used to cover the anticipated maintenance and operating expenses of the facility. Also, a nominal fee will be charged for floor use and event admissions that will be comparable to other New York City athletic facilities, such as the 168th Street Armory and the Park Slope Armory.

The donor has also agreed to underwrite any shortfalls in operating revenue incurred by the facility for the first 10 years. However, should excess revenue exist, the funds will be used to establish an Operating Reserve Fund equal to one year’s operating and maintenance expenses. The donor will provide funding for capital repair work that may be needed for the facility in the future by establishing a multi-million dollar Capital Reserve Fund.

— Geoffrey Croft

Brooklyn

New York City Philanthropist Offers to Underwrite Year-Round Indoor Community Recreation Facility for Brooklyn Bridge Park

“Fieldhouse” Would Represent One of the Largest Donations Ever Made To a NYC Park

Today, at the board of directors meeting of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, Regina Myer, president of the park, announced that Joshua Rechnitz, founder and Chairman of the New York City Fieldhouse Inc. (Fieldhouse), a not-for-profit corporation, offered to underwrite the design and construction costs of a year-round, multi-use recreation facility near Pier 5. The facility is estimated to cost $40 million and represents one of the largest donations ever made to a New York City park.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Brooklyn Bridge Park Chairman Robert K. Steel said "This generous offer represents an exciting and dynamic opportunity for Brooklyn Bridge Park and for all of the New Yorkers who have quickly come to love this community resource."

"Brooklyn Bridge Park is rapidly taking shape as one of the great new parks of New York City,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “This new field house will complement the romantic landscape and stunning vistas of the city's harbor and skyline with striking new facility for indoor sports and fitness, including track cycling and court sports, thanks to a remarkable private gift."

“This is a very exciting project and presenting our vision to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation is an important milestone,” said New York City Fieldhouse founder and chairman, Joshua Rechnitz. “We want this to truly be a community endeavor that will add amenities for park users and provide a much needed all-weather sports facility.”

Regina Myer said “I am thrilled at the magnitude and generosity of this gift, which could invigorate the park in the winter months and provide much needed active recreation space for youth all over the borough on a year round basis. I look forward to working with community and recreation stakeholders to examine this proposal in full and evaluate how it can enhance Brooklyn Bridge Park’s legacy as an extraordinary civic destination.”

The proposed facility would be located primarily on Furman Street on a site now partially occupied by a cinderblock building used for storage and construction by BBPC and currently programmed for future operations and maintenance needs. The state-of-the-art indoor recreation, cycling, and community facility will be open for public use.

The Fieldhouse is envisioned to include a 115,000 sq. ft. indoor recreation center with a 200-meter inclined track for cycling and a 22,000 sq. ft. infield for high school, collegiate, club-level and professional sporting events, such as basketball, tennis, track cycling, volleyball, and gymnastics. It also includes key amenities for the park such as a public boathouse, public restrooms, and maintenance and operations space for BBPC.

NYC Fieldhouse, Inc. has selected Thomas Phifer and Partners to design the Fieldhouse. This established and highly regarded New York City-based firm has a portfolio of work that includes civic institutions, museums, academic campuses, private residences and corporate offices. Their work is distinguished by its clean lines, rich textures and responsiveness to site conditions.

Thomas Phifer, the founding principal, has received the AIA NY’s 2004 Medal of Honor and is a member of the National Academy of Design, among other honors.

The proposal will undergo extensive community consultation by staff and representatives of the not-for-profit starting with a briefing to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Advisory Council. Additionally, the proposal will be presented to neighborhood, educational, and athletic organizations for their input, as well as upcoming meetings of Brooklyn Community Boards 2 and 6.

Four public meetings in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park, Brooklyn Heights/Dumbo, and Red Hook, will be scheduled in order to further gather feedback and better assess community programming needs. Once concluded, the Fieldhouse will refine its proposal and the Board of the BBPC will determine whether to accept the offer and commence requisite land use and environmental reviews that will include public comment periods.

The New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. is a new not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting healthy and sustainable living in our communities through recreational and competitive sports with an emphasis on competitive track cycling. The New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. believes that New York City deserves both to benefit from the rapidly growing sport of competitive track cycling and to become a new world hub for the sport.

The New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. founder and chairman, Joshua P. Rechnitz, is a competitive amateur cyclist, track cycling enthusiast and philanthropist who is committed to establishing a world-class sports, cycling and recreation center in New York City. Mr. Rechnitz is following in the great philanthropic tradition of his late grandparents, Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn, who made significant contributions to cultural institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History, medical and academic endeavors at institutions like Rockefeller University and Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University and civic pursuits like the renovation of the East 72nd Street playground in Central Park.

Read More:

B'klyn Bridge Park project gets $40M from philanthropist

New York Post - April 19, 2012 - By Rich Calder

Cyclist donates $40M to Brooklyn Bridge Park for indoor bike track

The Brooklyn Paper - April 20, 2012 - By Daniel Bush

Brooklyn Bridge Park Gets $40 Million Gift to Build Field House

New York Times - April 19, 2012 - By Lisa W. Foderaro

Brooklyn Bridge Park Design Criticized Again

A Walk In The Park - April 17, 2012

What's new and what's planned at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Parts of plans for the park are still in flux

New York Daily News - March 15, 2012 - By Erin Durkin