City scraps Sunset Park project after row with Council member

The city is backing out of a $115 million project to redevelop the 88-acre South Brooklyn Marine Terminal along the Sunset Park waterfront.

City officials said Brooklyn Council member Carlos Menchaca demanded too much control over the site. The City Council was slated to vote yesterday to reassign the terminal’s lease back to the Economic Development Corporation. But the city canceled its plans, which involved the construction of a new municipal recycling facility and the reactivation of maritime services at the terminal.

Kyle Kimball, president of the EDC, told Crain’s that Menchaca was being obstructionist and refused to include the local community board on the selection of tenants for the project.

“I guess what caught us off-guard was that … in a district with a high poverty rate and stingy unemployment rates, he found the job-creation piece uncompelling,” Kimball told the publication. “I think we were surprised by that.”

Menchaca said city officials demanded approval for a master lease to maintain total control over the terminal for decades.

“They’ve got no stock in Sunset Park,” Menchaca said. “This is a new EDC with the same old tricks.” [Crain’s] — Mark Maurer