Development wins again. A judge ruled Friday that the Pierhouse hotel/condo complex currently being built on the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park will be allowed to proceed with construction that will block views of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, the New York Times reports.
According to the Times, State Supreme Court Justice Lawrence S. Knipel “acknowledged that the current construction, which is nearing completion, leaves ‘an indelible impression’ of overwhelming the promenade’s historic space and view,” but ruled that the building’s economic contributions to the park are more valuable, and opponents to the construction didn’t file their paperwork in time.
“Revenue from development sites within the project’s footprint supports the park’s long-term maintenance and operations,” Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, said in a statement on Sunday. “Without those sites, there would be no Brooklyn Bridge Park. The court agrees.”
The opposing view, however, is what Steven Guterman, president of Save the View Now, told the Times: “The government has decided to go ahead and ignore the will of the people and used a technicality to allow a developer to reap hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The Pierhouse website, somewhat ironically, touts the development’s naturalness and the fact that it’s “an extension of the park.”
Photo: Howard Brier
