By Phoebe Neidl
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — At a much-anticipated meeting of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) Thursday night, the city-state agency updated the public on its financial status, indicating that while there is long-term uncertainty for the project, funding is in hand for construction and maintenance through mid-2012.

After decades of planning, construction of the 85-acre waterfront park got underway last month with work scheduled for Piers 1, 5 and 6. BBPDC has in hand $230 million of the total $347 million projected construction cost for the park, leaving an almost $120 million shortfall. “We’re still very much committed to building Pier 2 and hope we’ll get money for that,� said BBPDC President Regina Myer at the meeting.

Public speculation on the demise of the park came last week when the agency revealed that the hotel and condominium developments that were counted on to finance the annual maintenance of the park are indefinitely on hold.

Proposed development sites at Piers 1 and 6 and John Street in DUMBO, as well as the already-completed One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo building are intended to raise revenue for the park through ground rent and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS).

Park maintenance is now estimated at $16.1 million annually, up about $900,000 from earlier estimates due to inflation, park officials said. That increase would have been even higher, they said, if not for cost-saving sustainability measures that will lighten utility costs, such as storm water reuse.

The hotel and residential developments within the park have been the most contentious issue during the planning process, and now that they’re on hold, the financing of maintenance is up in the air. However, BBPDC Vice-President of Real Estate David Lowen clarified at Thursday’s meeting that the $3 million they will receive annually from One Brooklyn Bridge Park, a former Jehovah’s Witness building on Furman Street, will be enough to sustain maintenance during the early years of the park, since maintenance costs would not be as high as $16 million until the full park was completed.

The sales volume at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, reported to be sluggish, does not impact the funds the park receives from that development, Lowen said.

“Development sites will have to come in phases as the park grows. We will only develop what is necessary,� said Lowen, who also noted that they have until mid-2012 before they “would have make cut backs and go bare bones.�

Unknown Factors Loom

An unknown factor still looms over the project in the near term: the state of the 12,000 timber piles that support the piers underwater. They have not been studied since 2004, said Myer, and a new marine study could indicate that repairs can’t be deferred.

Myer said, “We’ll be looking at concessions as a way to raise more revenue in the park,� but, revenue-raising from parking lots would be “problematic.� “It’s in opposition to where land use policy has gone,� she said.

The recently elected state Senator Daniel Squadron called the meeting an “important first step,� saying “I’m encouraged by the openness, community engagement and transparency that I see tonight.� Squadron has been critical of the park planning process as well as the use of residential developments to help finance it, but sounded conciliatory on Thursday night. “I said the first step would be updating costs and I really appreciate that the development corporation has done that,� he said.

Both Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Councilman Bill de Blasio were also complimentary of the BBPDC presentation. De Blasio called it a “step forward in transparency,� and commented that “the search for consensus is more intense now that physical progress is being made� on the park. He mentioned, however, that he was interested in seeing a public school in the park as opposed to condos.

It was also announced at the meeting that a Community Advisory Council (CAC) would be reconstituted, in which community members could advise BBPDC on the park’s planning. Myer said she hoped the first meeting would be held as early as March.

The early cost estimate for the park’s construction was $150 million, which has more than doubled. Though not involved in the development of Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe spoke in defense of the park’s cost, saying, “The park is expensive, but certainly not the most expensive,� citing Hudson River Park, the West Harlem Piers Project and a park near Yankee Stadium that have a higher per-acre construction cost. “This is a bargain, seriously,� he said.

Benepe also noted that construction costs could come down since it’s no longer a “super-heated construction environment� with high demand for construction services.

Hopes that the federal government’s stimulus package could help bridge the park’s budget gap sounded dim on Thursday. Park officials indicated that only a very small portion of the package would be dedicated to parks, though they would be meeting with the city’s congressional delegation on the issue.

A spokesperson for Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez warned that funding for Brooklyn Bridge Park would be considered a member item, and therefore would be construed as an “earmark,� much maligned during the presidential campaign, and that this only further hurts the chances of federal assistance.

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