Infuriated Brooklynites flooded the steps of City Hall yesterday afternoon to protest the delay in the construction of Bushwick Inlet Park. Back in 2005, residents of Williamsburg and Greenpoint were assured that the green space would be created as part of Mayor Bloomberg's waterfront rezoning, but ten years later progress on the park has slowed. "I'm angry you have to be here. I'm angry I have to be here. I'm angry my kids have to be here," said Agnieszka Gac-Chlebosz, a 30-year-old mom of two from Williamsburg. "They should be in the park!"
The protesters are especially nervous about the park's future after last month's 7-alarm fire took out one of the CitiStorage facilities that occupies 10 of the 28 acres promised by the Bloomberg administration.
If the CitiStorage lot isn't bought, the park will be unable to accommodate the youth athletic field, a play area, dog run, and bird roosting area proposed in the initial blueprints.
"City Hall promised us a park, instead we got a flaming warehouse," Democratic District Leader Nick Rizzo said at the event. "There's a scorching mark on the lungs of the neighborhood."
The rally followed a protest last Friday night at the park site—a 30-foot tall "light graffiti" message was projected onto the charred shell of the CitiStorage building.
The plans for Bushwick Inlet Park include six lots—the city's already acquired three, and another's set to be paid for by June, but there's no schedule in place yet to take over the CitiStorage lot, and at this stage, it can be purchased by someone other than the city.
The plot's owner indicated in 2011 that he'd be willing to sell the parcel of land for $120 million, and city officials said the green space couldn't be finished because the city lacked the funds to buy the CitiStorage tract.
In a statement, the Parks Department said that they would continue to take "substantive steps toward the development of Bushwick Inlet Park’s additional parcels," and come June, with the acquisition of another lot, they "will begin the important work of environmental remediation at this former industrial site."
Jessica Warriner / Gothamist
"I've been living in the neighborhood 15 years now, and I've seen a lot of changes," said Mary Patterson, 38, a mom of two from Greenpoint, in reference to the condos shooting up on the waterfront. "I've been very excited about Bushwick Inlet Park, I've known about it for a number of years, and I'm wondering when it's going to happen," she said, holding her baby daughter Amy on her chest as her son Elliot played at her feet. "I walk past the area every single day."
By 1.30 p.m., no more protesters were allowed to join the chanting masses on the steps of City Hall. —"We're filled to capacity!" yelled one man. "Where's our park?", "Flowers not towers", and reworded lyrics to "This Land Is Your Land" backed up the speakers, which included a range of community leaders, representatives from El Puente and the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, and other elected officials.
"There's a green necklace around Manhattan. There's a green necklace around Queens. We need it around Williamsburg and Greenpoint," said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. "[De Blasio] must keep the promise of the prior administration."
The group who organized the rally, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, encouraged residents to contact De Blasio to voice their displeasure, and plan on holding another rally in the near future at the Bushwick Inlet Park site.
Assemblyman Joe Lentol echoed the Congresswoman's call to hold the current administration accountable for their predecessors. "[De Blasio] will try to blame this on the Bloomberg administration," he said. "I don't care if it's a prior mayor...We don't care about the money they have to pay, they have to live up to the promise."
