Brooklyn Groups May File Suit To Save Dry Dock
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Conservation groups in Brooklyn are considering filing a federal lawsuit to stop a historic dry dock in Red Hook from being filled to make way for the parking lot of an Ikea store, the coordinator of the Save the Graving Dock Committee, Roberta Weisbrod, said yesterday.
Graving dock no. 1, a concrete and steel basin more than 700 feet long, has been used for servicing ships since the 1860s.It is historically important as well as being a key dry dock in New York’s maritime industry, Ms. Weisbrod said.
The struggle over the dock began when the Swedish furniture company announced it would build a large store on the site of the defunct Todd Shipyards, of which the dock is a part. Plans call for the store to open in 2007. Construction moved a step closer to starting after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on February 24 authorized permits for waterside construction. Ikea wants to fill the graving dock with dirt and pave it over for use as a parking lot.
The Save the Graving Dock Committee on Monday sent a letter to the Corps of Engineers protesting the decision to grant the permits. It argues that there are alternatives to filling in the dock and that the decision was made without consulting interested parties. A spokesman for the Corps of Engineers, Peter Shugert, said its regulatory office was conducting an in-depth review of the claims in the letter.
A spokesman for Ikea, Joseph Roth, said in a statement that the company had been clear from the start that it had no plans to keep the graving dock. Officials from Community Board 6, the borough president’s office, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council gave the go-ahead on the plans at the time, he said. The alternative plan presented by the Save the Graving Dock Committee isn’t feasible because it would require Ikea to purchase a new piece of land and go through the entire process of certification again, among other problems, he said.
“I’m a businessperson,” Ms. Weisbrod said. “We’re not trying to stop Ikea. The store could be good for the local economy … but this dock is extraordinarily useful and important.”
