South Brooklyn’s Waterfront Makeover Is Coming, But at What Cost?

Members of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force and nearby residents say they’re being shut out of the planning process as the city pushes a controversial redevelopment.

Last May, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled a pivotal deal involving Brooklyn’s last active cargo port: a transfer of control of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to the New York Economic Development Corporation. The vision? A reinvention of the 122-acre stretch between Red Hook and the Columbia Street Waterfront District into what Adams has ambitiously dubbed a “harbor of the future.”

The plan dangled the promise of a sleek, modern port and a mixed-use community hub, with the potential to create thousands of jobs. The prospect of a bustling waterfront teeming with local businesses, new opportunities and less traffic sparked initial support from locals, some of whom requested to be involved in the planning process. But hope turned to concern late last year, when the EDC proposed offsetting the estimated $1.5 billion cost of upgrading the terminal by installing up to 9,000 luxury housing units.

In the following months, residents began voicing their concerns over what they feel is a lack of transparency from the EDC about its plans for the BMT, the demolition of which is already underway. Some feel that the EDC is advancing too quickly and without consideration of the community’s desires and needs. Some worry that the addition of waterfront housing will detract from maritime business opportunities. Others feel that public land should be used for affordable housing, not luxury units. Many feel that despite speaking up in town halls, their voices aren’t being heard.