Elected officials from Greenpoint and Williamsburg are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to sit down and lay out his plan for the acquisition of the remaining parcels of Bushwick Inlet Park. Eleven years have passed since the City promised the 27 acre Bushwick Inlet Park as one of the (few) community benefits of the massive 2005 Waterfront Rezoning and one year since we learned that the core 7.5 acres of the promised park was for sale to luxury apartment developers, and STILL Mayor Bill de Blasio still refuses to meet with Greenpoint-Williamsburg’s elected officials to discuss how to secure this essential, promised park space. 

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, State Senator Martin Malave Dilan, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, and City Councilman Stephen Levin sent a crucial letter of support for Bushwick Inlet Park and asking for a face-to-face meeting with the Mayor to address this district’s mounting open space crisis that is reaching a breaking point. The letter states “when the City Council adopted the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning on May 11, 2005, it was with the understanding that in exchange for the rezoning, the City would provide the community with a park.” The letter goes on to say “this was not a gift, it was a trade…Today, only about 3.5 acres…has been developed as park.”

Ironically, while the Mayor continues to ignore Bushwick Inlet Park and the open space needs of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, his administration is promoting a zoning change right across the street for a 14 block zone in the heart of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg IBZ including a special permit application for private developer at 25 Kent Ave (“The Generator”). Remarkably, this zoning change includes no mention of Bushwick Inlet Park, leading Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park to question the Mayor’s priorities when it comes to the health and welfare of Williamsburg and Greenpoint residents. Private developers have already reaped big benefits. Before they are provided with more sugar, de Blasio and the City must deliver this promised community benefit first.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.bushwickinletpark.org
email: info@bushwickinletpark.org
Contact: Steve Chesler/Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park
917-804-1313

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