By Dennis Holt

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — It was disturbing to learn that at a recent public hearing concerning rehabilitating the downtown section of the Brooklyn-Queens-Expressway — work that won’t start for at least seven years — there were still those pleading that work on Brooklyn Bridge Park should stop until the BQE work is completed.

Such sentiments, not fresh at this late date, come from those who have always opposed a park beneath Brooklyn Heights.

But what few have been aware of is that public rehabilitation work is of great concern to park developers, builders, and operators, but not the BQE.

Brooklyn Bridge itself will soon start getting completely overhauled, including blasting and repainting — at least a five-year job. This work shouldn’t interfere with the continued building of the new park, but it certainly will affect what happens on both sides of the bridge and the part below — called Bridge Plaza.

Those responsible for fixing the bridge very much want to use the Bridge Plaza space for storage of equipment, supplies and vehicles, which the Park Development Corporation is resisting. Complicated discussions are underway to try to resolve all the issues, but it is not going to be easy.

(A very innocent question: why can’t the first bridge work take place right over the Bridge Plaza space? This could happen before park activity would be in full roar. But maybe that is too logical.)

Because all the focus on the waterfront park has been about Piers 1 to 6, where most of the early construction will take place, reports regarding the recent transfer of management of the DUMBO part of the new park were somewhat incomplete.

There is more to it than signing some official documents. The transfer, along with the significant financial contribution of $3.45 million by David Walentas, will start a whole host of development activity that had not been scheduled yet, nor funds allocated.

Pier 1 Will Open to Public

When the transfer lease takes place on January 1, the new large Pier 1 space will be open to the public. The Development Corporation plans to close Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, except for the playground, in order to do the necessary work.

This includes installing outdoor lighting systems and Jane’s (Walentas) Carousel along with appropriate plantings. In addition, one of the major new features of the whole park, which hasn’t received much attention yet, underground stormwater management tanks, will be installed.

Such tanks were put into place last April at Pier 1. This system will collect stormwater runoff from heavy rainfalls and be recycled for irrigation of park landscapes. It is a novel concept that will probably be adopted elsewhere where needed. (For example, such an approach is planned for Atlantic Yards and in Gowanus development sites).

No timetable for this work has yet been established, but already known is the plan to issue a request for proposals for a reuse of the Empire Stores in early 2010. No plan has yet evolved for the Tobacco Warehouse, but one surely will be presented before long.

So, checking out progress on the DUMBO part of Brooklyn Bridge Park will become a pastime for armchair observers starting next year.

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