Brooklyn Bridge Park budget report stirs housing development controversy

A new report on Brooklyn Bridge Park funding options indicates that building residential stock nearby could be the best way to defray the park’s $16 million annual maintenance budget, something many community members and elected officials are not happy about, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The report, drafted by an outside consultant, found that options not involving the development of high-rise housing would only generate an estimated $2.5 million to $7 million. But Judi Francis, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, said that the report was biased. “All the numbers are to justify one goal: building high on the waterfront,” Francis said. The financial debate has arisen out of a 2002 agreement between city and state officials, guaranteeing that the $350 million Brooklyn Bridge Park would maintain its own operating budget. [Brooklyn Paper]