Brooklyn Bridge Park And Pier 6 Plan Opponents Ordered To Negotiate

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lucy Billings has ordered the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation and the Brooklyn Heights Association to negotiate and resolve their disagreements over the park’s plans for Pier 6.

The Brooklyn Heights Association filed a lawsuit in July 2016 claiming that BBP is not keeping to its agreement to only develop as much housing as needed to cover the costs of maintaining the park, Brooklyn Paper reports.

The Association claims that the two residential towers planned for Pier 6 are “an unnecessary extravagance,” adding that the park is making enough income to sustain itself and should focus on creating more green space.

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s master plan includes a self-sustaining, financial model which requires commercial revenue—housing, a hotel, and retail—to pay for the park’s upkeep.

Along with the recently opened luxury hotel, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, and the Pierhouse condos, the Pier 6 towers have long been a part of the project, with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation stating that income from the 14-story and 28-story buildings would help pay to maintain the pier’s timber pilings that marine life consistently damages.

The two residential towers would bring 266 new housing units to Pier 6, with 100 apartments reserved for affordable housing.

The Association claims the development would take over three acres of open space and would “contribute to the overcrowding at neighborhood schools and ‘loom incongruously’ over the historic homes of Brooklyn Heights,” DNA Info reports.

The case is scheduled to return to court April 26.