The city announced Monday afternoon that it has settled a lawsuit with preservationists and community groups. The deal will guarantee the future development of the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park and preserve parkland there.
Last year, a number of groups banded together and sued the city to protect Brooklyn Bridge Park's historic Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores from being developed and to block the transfer of the properties over to the city. Before any development can begin on the two sites, state legislation has to be passed and the National Park Service needs to approve such development. Under the new agreement, the Tobacco Warehouse will be preserved and re-used as a cultural and community facility by schools, community organizations and the public.
If the necessary approvals are reached, the Tobacco Warehouse could reopen for programming as early as this summer, according to the city. Additionally, St. Ann's Warehouse, a Brooklyn nonprofit theater group, has been conditionally designated as the tenant of the Tobacco Warehouse. Meanwhile, the Empire Stores will be used as a mixed-use retail and commercial development that will provide revenue to help fund Brooklyn Bridge Park's operation and maintenance costs. Last year, the city planned to release a request for proposals to redevelop the Empire Stores building but the efforts were delayed because of the lawsuit.
The settlement calls for 38,000 square feet of new parkland immediately below the Manhattan Bridge and owned by the city to be added to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The parkland will substitute any parkland taken away as a result of developing Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores. The preservation of such parkland and public involvement were key to the plaintiffs' lawsuit against the city. Under the deal, the city also agreed to keep the community actively involved in its plans for developing the two sites.
"This agreement solidifies our ongoing partnership with the community to build Brooklyn Bridge Park for generations to come," said Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., the entity responsible for overseeing planning, building and maintaining the park, in a press statement. "I look forward to working to incorporate new parkland in the Park, developing a vibrant community and theatre space in consultation with the community, and ensuring that the successful adaptive re-use of Empires Stores and Tobacco Warehouse benefits park visitors."
"Today is another sign that public process matters, and that when the community stands up it's possible to make real progress on difficult issues," said Sen. Daniel Squadron, who along with Assemblywoman Joan Millman played a major role in the settlement and ensured that the community plays an expanded role in the planning, design and construction of new parkland "Moving forward we will now have a collaborative process in place and new publicly accessible parkland."
Jim Walden of the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, referred comment to his clients—The Fulton Ferry Landing Association, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Preservation League of New York State.
"The expansion of the park is a great victory for everyone," said Joan Zimmerman, president of the Fulton Ferry Landing Association, in a statement. "We are glad that the settlement agreement today solidifies public process and ensures that, if any re-use of the Tobacco Warehouse or Empire Stores is approved, replacement parkland is a 'must'."
Source: http://feeds.crainsnewyork.com/~r/crainsnewyork/latestnews/~3/__468CF34y0/120529993
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