Gowanus Bay Terminal owner requires tenants to abide by community-friendly rules

Gowanus Bay Terminal and John Quadrozzi (Credit: The Red Hook Star)
Gowanus Bay Terminal and John Quadrozzi (Credit: The Red Hook Star)

New tenants of the Gowanus Bay Terminal have to do more — a lot more — than just pay their rent and follow the standard rules and regulations: They have to be better citizens.

The stipulation went into effect this month and comes from the terminal’s owner himself, John Quadrozzi, Crain’s reported.

For Quadrozzi, the requirement means tenants of his 46-acre Red Hook property, must try to hire neighborhood residents, apply sustainable practices, and support neighborhood and industrial advocacy initiatives. The terminal houses 30 small-to-medium tenants, mostly in the transportation industry, and has a staff of about 150.

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Quadrozzi, also a developer and concrete magnate, told Crain’s he intends to bridge the gap between the working waterfront with the surrounding community, while also boosting the neighborhood’s floundering unemployment rate.

“As I see much of the industrial areas around the city disappear, it’s a lack of connection between the industry and community,” Quadrozzi said. “We need to operate in a more holistic way and make the community part of our business.”

If tenants want to hire workers now, they would have to submit a job request form to Red Hook groups to request names of residents who fit the job descriptions. Many jobs there require specialized training and sometimes Coast Guard licenses, so there is little chance of finding a match, Mike Barr, property manager for Vane Brothers, told the newspaper. [Crain’s]Mark Maurer