Bushwick Inlet Park Will Be Whole at Last

By Kings County Politics News Service

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that his administration has finally reached an agreement to buy developer Norman Brodsky's 11-acre CitiStorage site along the Williamsburg waterfront — the last missing chunk in the city's long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park — for $160 million.

The city now has control over the full footprint of the proposed 27-acre Bushwick Inlet Park, and can make good on a forever-ago promise to the people of North Brooklyn from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the city would build the park to offset new, pro-development zoning regulations along the waterfront.

“This is a proud day for the people of Williamsburg and Greenpoint,” State Assemblyman Joe Lentol, who represents the area, said Tuesday. “This is the most significant development that the City of New York has made towards fulfilling the promise made to this community during the 2005 rezoning.

"Our community should rejoice," Lentol said.

Bloomberg promised the parkland as a mitigation for massive zoning changes that in the past 11 years have brought tens of thousands of new residents to the neighborhood. Lack of park space has been a constant complaint from many residents — and the problem has only gotten worse as the population has increased. Adding this 11-acre parcel to Bushwick Inlet Park, then, should go a long way in addressing the problem.

“This has been a lengthy and, at times, challenging process, but we all remained committed to the goal and had faith," City Council Member Steve Levin said Tuesday. "This agreement was too important not to get done.”

Levin and Lentol said in a joint statement that they "gratefully acknowledged" the "extraordinary and committed advocacy" of activist groups like the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park and the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn in fighting for the land.

The successful buy is also a huge win for de Blasio as he heads into next year’s mayoral campaign season.

“Our administration keeps its promises," de Blasio said Tuesday. "When we commit to build a new park or a new school in a growing community, we deliver. We look forward to working with local officials, activists and residents as we design and build a Bushwick Inlet Park we can all be proud of."

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site