State to Bridge Park Architects: Hurry Up
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The architects responsible for the $150 million state and city plan to build the Brooklyn Bridge Park left a meeting yesterday with government officials with one crystal-clear message: hurry up.
Mayor Giuliani first broke ground on the 1.3-mile park along the East River in July 2001, but the project is still mired in the planning and design stage.
Yesterday, the project’s head architect, Michael Van Valkenburgh, when pressed by board members of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, said there would be the opportunity to do “a ground-breaking” on some portion of the park by the end of next year.
The state’s parks commissioner, Bernadette Castro,a board member who participated by phone, replied, “Some green space that is going to happen in 11 months – that is extremely important. I mean extremely important.”
The plan has been criticized by neighborhood groups because the city and state have proposed to finance the 85-acre park’s upkeep, estimated at $15 million a year,with money generated by developing four residential buildings on the site, including a hotel-residential complex and two luxury towers. Opponents have charged that the completed park will only serve as a government-financed backyard for wealthy residents occupying the luxury condos.
After yesterday’s meeting, the chairman of the development corporation, Charles Gargano, said the pressure to expedite the project is not politically driven. But Mr. Van Valkenburgh and another board member, John Watts, suggested that earlier construction on the site would generate more public enthusiasm in favor of the project.
In addition, a shorter timetable could convince potential developers that the park will definitely be built, and increase their bids on the available properties. Last month, Brooklyn developer David Walentas was quoted as saying in an article in the New York Observer that he was interested in developing the residential property in the park, but he questioned whether the park would ever become a reality.
Yesterday Mr. Van Valkenburgh and his team initially presented a plan that would accelerate the construction schedule by about two years, with most of the park near completion by 2009.
But the quicker timeline did not satisfy some of the board members, including Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who questioned the length of time required for planning and design.
“We’ve got the money now. Money is fleeting. Administrations change. And are we absolutely sure … that we have done everything we can do to move this thing faster? I look at three years for design. It looks like a really long time,” he said.
Ms. Castro asked Mr. Gargano to use his connections in state government to expedite the approval process. According to the architect, the project requires review from 15 different government and private agencies.
A City Council member, David Yassky of Brooklyn, told The New York Sun yesterday that the board’s new sense of urgency was long overdue.
“There is no reason to wait for building this park. The city and state have been carrying money in the budget for four years now. There is no excuse for the development corporation to keep delaying,” he said.
The development corporation’s president, Wendy Leventer, said yesterday that the board is scheduled to vote on the final project plan and environmental impact statement in December.