Plan for the use of Brooklyn Army Terminal, a 972 acre Waterfront Site in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

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Plan for the use of Brooklyn Army Terminal, a 972 acre Waterfront Site in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

        Revitalisation of the industrial waterfront is nothing new to New York City. The decline of manufacturing in industrial cities saw the obsolescence of port infrastructure and the rise of producer services in harbour cities over the world. The spatial response in New York City to this economic phenomenon has been varied but has been focussed on similar ends.

        Beginning with Battery Park City in 1962, when 92 sq feet of new land were created to accommodate new office and residential space over the site of 20 deteriorated Hudson River piers. Waterfront development in New York City is also represented by diverse projects like the restoration of Schermerhorn Row and the creation of The South Street Seaport as a Festival market place, where the retention and restructuring of the historic fabric occurred as well as the insertion of new structure and Chelsea Piers where four neglected historic, piers were transformed into a major centre for public recreation and for waterfront access. Though they provide “public” spaces for the local public, the target of such projects is really the upper income earners and the tourist. This is reflected in investment decisions that produce little for local economic development and few social benefits.

        The site in question is in Sunset Park, South Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Army Terminal (Cass Gilbert) complex at present consists of 4 Buildings and one pier and includes the spaces of two demolished piers. Originally there were four piers, the surviving or rebuilt pier serves as a ferry terminus.
        The social and economic milieu (Sunset Park) and infrastructure (Brooklyn Army Terminal Building) should suggest principles to apply to the site.

Land Use Planning Issues

  • Decline of waterfront in South Brooklyn Community District 7 since the 1930’s. Including the loss of maritime industry, loss of port and related manufacturing jobs. The community suffers from high unemployment and a diminished tax base.
  • Unskilled labour force.
  • Obsolete technology, infrastructure (both on the waterfront and in the adjacent community).
  • Degradation of the social fabric as a result of limited resources and poverty
  • Local housing crisis (especially affordable and low income housing)
  • Sunset Park in South Brooklyn serves as a destination for immigrants from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
  • The community is underserved in terms of basic social services (there is no public high school where a third of the population is under 18 years) and assistance geared towards the diverse population.
  •  The program for this site needs to respond to the specific circumstances of the building and of the proximate community.  The typical post-modern solutions may not be the appropriate solution for these circumstances.
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The Brooklyn Army Terminal Building site

Possible approaches that seek to address the issues:

 

  • Retain existing M2-1 industrial zoning to encourage a return of traditional maritime uses to the waterfront site and create incentives to encourage new industrial and commercial uses to the waterfront site thus creating new local jobs, building and supporting the local economy. The site is currently zoned M2-1 medium manufacturing, which allows retail and commercial
  • Amend existing zoning to M1 to allow a variety of uses including light manufacturing at the waterfront ...

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