By Zoe Thomas
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

SUNSET PARK — Creating jobs, diversifying industry, revitalizing neighborhoods and becoming more environmentally friendly were the main themes at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s press conference here on Monday.

Bloomberg came to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to unveil his “Sunset Park Waterfront Vision Plan.�

The plan will revamp the Sunset Park waterfront and its many industrial buildings. Now-vacant or underutilized spaces will be modernized to meet the need of new industrial tenants. For 25 years the area has been underused; but now auto distribution, beverage wholesalers and recycling facilities will line what has been dubbed “Brooklyn’s working waterfront.�

The hope is to increase blue-collar jobs here by one-third by investing $165 million in city funding and an additional $105 million from the state and federal governments and private investors.

“On Brooklyn’s waterfront, the city has a unique opportunity to build upon existing assets, to create permanent industrial jobs,� said Bloomberg, “including a talented workforce.�

Also Helping Residents

This new vision for Sunset Park includes not only new businesses and job creation but improvements for the community. The section east of the industrial area will be rezoned in order to preserve the local residential community and to encourage the creation of more affordable housing.

A 22-acre park is also planned along the waterfront at Bush Terminal Pier. When finished, it will double the parkland in Sunset Park.

Sidewalks will also be renovated to make them more pedestrian friendly. Nowadays, the streets leading down to the waterfront are in disrepair and often blocked by loading and unloading trucks. The new plan will make 35th, 43rd, 51st, and 58th streets “pedestrian friendly streetscapes.�

Trains and Boats

The mayor hoped that the new waterfront industries will make Brooklyn greener as well. The rundown First Avenue surface freight train line will be repaired to enable more freight service. The city will also make an effort to increase marine cargo shipping from the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Both developments will help decrease the number of trucks on local streets.

“Our roads can not handle the trucks on the road today,� Congressman Jerrold Nadler said at the unveiling. The new renovations will also be environmentally sustainable, and the mayor said the city will investigate whether solar panels are a viable option for many of the buildings.

In keeping with the green theme, Dan Dienst, chief executive Officer for Sims Metal Management Group, spoke about the recycling plant his company will be building on the Sunset Park waterfront.

“It’s a honor to be here,� Dienst said. The company will begin building the facility next year and plans to start out with 100 employees, giving priority to workers from the area. The recycling plant will also house an education center to teach kids about the power of recycling and to accommodate school visits.

“We learn more about recycling from our kids then we do from each other,� said Dienst.

Facing questions about his support of rezoning parts of Red Hook to become residential, the mayor said the area needed to strike a balance, and again stressed his message of diversity.

“New York is not a mosaic, it is a mixture. You’ve got residential, industrial and commercial all on the same block,� he said.

“Diversity is our strength and so it must be for our industry,� added Borough President Marty Markowitz. One local manufacturer who has been in the neighborhood for 30 years said he believed that the mayor’s plan was a good one, but hoped that the city would help modernize older plants and not push them out when things improved.

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, whose district encompasses Sunset Park, also hoped the new larger businesses would sub-contract out to the smaller business in the community.

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