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Brooklyn Bridge Park affordable housing not needed: OPINION
Park corporation to receive $200M in tax funding over next 50 years, op-ed says
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation will raise nearly $200 million in tax increases over the next 50 years, and therefore can maintain Brooklyn Bridge Park without constructing two affordable housing properties on the site, wrote activist and Save Pier 6 founder Lori Schomp in a New York Daily News op-ed.
The tax hike, timed with the expiration of tax breaks, would cover expenses for operations and repairs of Pier 6, she wrote. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation recently conducted a financial analysis on fiscal year 2018, which would precede the expiration of the tax breaks. The study showed expiring tax breaks on commercial and residential buildings could generate up to $40 million over the next five decades.
“What we oppose is unnecessary high-rise construction in park space that should be set-aside in perpetuity,” Schomp said.
Two apartment buildings, one rising 15 stories and another rising 31, are slated for the Pier 6 site. The corporation’s board voted down a motion to reevaluate the planned towers, but did agree to an updated environmental review for Pier 6. In the meantime, a looming lawsuit looking to block the additional housing development leaves the board unable to issue a final decision on Pier 6’s future, as previously reported. [NYDN] — Mark Maurer