City awards contracts for pedestrian walkway in Brooklyn Bridge Park

The city awarded $25 million in contracts for the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park at a meeting of the board of directors of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., yesterday, the New York Post reported.

Most notably, a $6.2 million contract to construct a pedestrian bridge connecting the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood to the park — a recreation, of sorts, of the Old Penny bridge which connected the two until 1946 — was awarded to Kelco Construction of Commack, N.Y. The bridge will be known as the Squibb Park Bridge and will cost the taxpayer more than the city’s original $4.9 million estimate.

In August, a deal allowing a developer to build 170 to 225 hotel rooms and 150 to 180 residential units across two buildings no taller than 110 and 55 feet was arranged to fund the park’s $16 million annual maintenance bill. Seven high-profile developers, including the neighborhood’s largest presence, Two Trees Management, have submitted proposals.

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The city also awarded Kelco contracts to build three outdoor fields and a playground.

Officials said projects would be completed by next fall, and left open the possibility of planning a temporary pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park. [Post]