City takes control of Brooklyn Bridge Park

After months of negotiations, the state on Wednesday handed the reins of Brooklyn Bridge Park over to the city, while remaining to ride shotgun.

The deal came with two major caveats - an agreement that the Bloomberg Administration contributes $55 million to finish the $350 million park in the next fiscal year, and the city will explore other options for funding the parks mandate to be self-sustaining.

In other words, plans to construct housing on Pier 6 and John Street to pay for maintenance of the park are on hold while a new board explores potential alternative revenue sources...

...“Daniel Squadron has done a fabulous job of representing the community to secure a real park,” said Judi Francis, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund.

“We are very pleased that alternatives to housing will be explored and applied to funding this park. We are also pleased the recreational amenities in which we have advocated for six long years and 20 years before that will now have a possibility of being included in this park.”

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