The tanks take up 1.4 acres of proposed open space as well as block pure access and key sight lines to the East River and Bushwick Inlet waterfront. Not only did the community fight tooth and nail to save the CitiStorage site, but it also spent 9 years warding off a massive power plant planned for the Bayside tank site itself. It should be up to the community what happens with the Park and how much open space we are willing to give up to memorialize an oil-transfer station. This should not be decided by high-priced consultants and a glitzy PR blitz.
Ten years ago, a community-based planning process designed a master plan for BIP that did not include retention of the oil transfer station. The community voted then for open space over tanks. In the coming years, there will be opportunity for further community-based planning, at which time this choice can be revisited.
So far, these competing Maker Park/Tanks at Bushwick Inlet Park proposals mainly served to galvanize opposition.
