Follow-Up Letter to EDC // Feb 25
2025-02-25
This letter was sent from the NYDB Board to the EDC, attn: Andrew Kimball – as a follow-up to the meeting on February 5 (held at NYDB, and with 4 EDC representatives presents)
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Board of Managers
New York Dock Building
160 Imlay Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
February 21, 2025
Andrew Kimball
President & CEO
New York City Economic Development Corporation
One Liberty Plaza
New York, NY 10006
Subject: Thank You and Upcoming Meeting on February 25
Dear Mr. Kimball,
On behalf of the residents of the New York Dock Building at 160 Imlay Street, we would like to sincerely thank you for arranging a meeting between our community and members of your team, including Mikelle Adgate. We greatly appreciate the time and effort the EDC is dedicating to engaging with us directly, and we recognize the complexity of balancing the many competing interests in the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
As part of this on-going dialogue, we have scheduled a follow-up meeting with Mikelle on February 25. Our primary goals for this meeting are two-fold:
To discuss outstanding questions and information that we requested and your team indicated was available to share
To gain clarity and share our building’s point of view on the planned development around the perimeter of our building, including Pier 11, the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the Christie's building to our North, and the parking lot to our South
At a high-level, our building’s desires and interests are the following:
Designating a significant footprint of greenspace on Pier 11 for residents and tourists
Defining a height limitation for any future construction on Pier 11 that may limit views
Limiting quality of life impacts created by any future construction and industrial use along the waterfront
Improving and expanding infrastructure to responsibly support a growing Red Hook community
Specifically, we would like to better understand the following:
Economic Feasibility of Hotel & Entertainment Center – Your team indicated that the NYC / EDC conducted economic feasibility studies on the 900 key hotel and hospitality center. Can you please share the economic feasibility study? We are interested specifically in the room rates, expected vacancy rates, and uses of the hotel on days that the cruises docked that informed the economic feasibility study.
Sewage Feasibility Studies – Your team indicated that the NYC / EDC conducted sewage feasibility studies to prove that current infrastructure / future infrastructure improvements would support the population growth projected in the scenarios. Can you please share the sewage feasibility studies that NYC / EDC conducted on the Red Hook sewer systems with evidence as to how the proposed scenarios and associated housing volumes will tie into the current infrastructure or an indication of the future infrastructure improvements being planned for?
Transportation Feasibility Studies – Can you please share the transportation feasibility studies that the NYC / EDC conducted on public transportation (e.g., subway, ferry, bus) with evidence as to how the proposed scenarios and associated housing volumes will be supported by the current public transportation options or an indication of future public transportation being planned for?
Conover Street Extension Studies – Can you please share the analyses completed for the proposed extension of Conover St through Pier 11 and the options that are being studied for the scenarios?
Pier 11 Uses – The ferry home port and cold storage facility were previously stated as uses for Pier 11. How is NYC / EDC defining “mixed-use” and “mixed-used commercial” as denoted on the scenarios? Is the original plan for the ferry home port and cold storage facility still being prioritized or are new options on the table? If new options are on the table, what other “mixed-use commercial” does NYC / EDC envision? If the original plan for the ferry home port and cold storage facility is still being prioritized, what mitigation efforts for storage of fuel and compression noise have been discussed? Is the NYC / EDC considering opportunities to integrate hospitality and greenspace into the Pier 11 plan?
Christie's Building to Our North – What is the NYC / EDC planning to use this site for? In the scenarios, it looks like a residential component may be considered for this site. Is NYC / EDC planning to purchase / acquire this site? What are the detailed plans (e.g., height) for development on this site?
Planned Apartments to Our South – In the scenarios, it looks like a residential component may be considered for this site. What are the detailed plans (e.g., height) for development on this site?
Construction Mitigation – What plan / contractual clauses will be used to protect our building / mitigate disruption (e.g., utilities, street closures, construction times, environmental concerns) during the construction process?
Project Coordination – What coordination is planned with the Coastal Resiliency project to efficiently / effectively remediate current / anticipated challenges (e.g., flooding)?
We look forward to a transparent and constructive discussion on these topics and appreciate the opportunity to continue working collaboratively to shape a thoughtful, sustainable future for Red Hook. We will follow up after our meeting on February 25 with any additional thoughts or questions.
Sincerely,
John Mealy
President, Board of Managers
New York Dock Building
160 Imlay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
cc: Mikelle Adgate, NYC EDC