City Cuts $11 Million From Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fancy Condos Ahoy!

Via xBettyx's Flickr

Barely a year after opening to glowing reviews (it's all in the restrooms) the city has cut $11 million in funding to our favorite place to eat Grimaldi's. If pols don't agree on whether or not to build luxury condos to finance its annual $16 million maintenance fees, the remainder of the $44 million that the city has promised may be in jeopardy as well! Brooklyn Heights state senator Daniel Squadron tells the Daily News that, "This funding cut and the results of this report call the city's commitment to completing the park into question."

A Bay-Area consulting firm presented the city with options other than blighting the park with schmancy condos, but they would raise a maximum of $7 million a year, nowhere near enough to keep the park running. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy even admits that "some residual housing is needed on the site." And spokesman for the Parks Department reiterates Bloomberg's commitment to the park, but "to responsibly allocate those capital funds, however, a plan must be in place to ensure the maintenance of these investments for future generations." It's a win-win—as long as BBP installs a well-manicured 'groveling annex' directly below the condos so parkgoers can gather any spare change or champagne falling out the windows.

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By Christopher Robbins in News on June 14, 2011 6:09 PM

Comments [rss]

PCC123

I hope they bulldoze this wretched park and put beautiful new luxury condos there. Not that I want anything to do with Brooklyn but hopefully it will bring some wealthier, more reputable people to the area. Who needs water views when you can have marble countertops and steam showers? Also, if this park is important to people in Brooklyn then it is surely NOT important to me.

kd11222

I know this park pretty well and I bet I can maintain it for about $5-6 million a year.
This is obviously just a ploy to get some condos built.

asakasan

Sorry Brooklyn gentry, go take a look at Van Cortlandt Park (a supposed "flagship" of the park system) and compare. I hope the city didn't cut the loading zones for the waaaambulance.

whatidsay

Which gentry are you referring to? The ones that will move into the housing or the ones that oppose it?
Once again, the city uses it leveraging power with developers to extort the residents of New York.

luke_1

I love that our politicians are so stupid/corrupt that they build a park that is seemingly supremely expensive to maintain, and attach a provision that condo construction will fund it. I'd say that I can't wrap my head around it but I live blocks from the eastern european communist era styling of THE EDGE.

John Dillworth

This is a sweet little park. Cut the grass, rake the leaves, shovel the snow, keep the bathrooms open. How much a year should this cost? 16 million a year seems about 32x higher than it should cost to keep this up.

GentleGiant

That's a great question. According to the Central Park Conservancy, Central Park's annual budget is $37.4 million. That puts the BBP projected budget at 42% of Central Park's. Is that reasonable? I have no idea.

gambalore

I assume the $16m will be to maintain the park when all 6 piers are open. If the final product lives up to the lofty plans that they've drawn up, 42% of Central Park's budget doesn't seem that far off.