2025 was a year of extensive coverage of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment process for the Red Hook Star-Revue. But so much happened that it’s easy to forget some of the twists and turns. So, here is the recap. While the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and then-Mayor Eric Adams began the public engagement phase already in the summer of 2024, […]
News
Community Board Six is determined to reduce motorized vehicle traffic in Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Gowanus, by Asar John
The most recent Community Board 6 meeting featured the ongoing battle over Court Street’s new redesign, a narrowly-passed motion on a neighborhood traffic concept and an approval of the annual district needs statement. During the meeting’s public comment session, Carroll Gardens resident Edward Straka expressed skepticism about data pointing towards crashes on Court Street and shared his experience on the […]
BWAC not able to return to Van Brunt warehouse, by George Fiala
As a result of September’s fire at the Beard Street Warehouse, BWAC, which has occupied three stories there since the 1990s, will have to relocate, as they just announced in this press release: “Following the devastating fire at 481 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook last September, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) had high hopes that they would be […]
GOWANUS NEWS: Promised renovations lagging as rezoning threatens to leave public housing behind, by Asar John
As the Gowanus Canal waterfront rapidly shifts to a residential face, other parts of Gowanus are also getting makeovers — but at a much different pace. The 2021 rezoning that spurred Gowanus’ development boom includes 56 commitments dedicated to area institutions, including $200 million to renovate the Gowanus and Wyckoff Gardens public housing complexes, paid for by city taxpayers. But […]
The next step in the BMT land use process is the environmental review. Here’s what to know, by Max White
Now that the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force has approved their “vision plan” to redevelop the 122-acre industrial waterfront site, the long process leading to a groundbreaking for the proposed $3.5 billion project has begun. The EDC plan says they will modernize and electrify the port, add new park space, prepare the site and surrounding area for climate change, add […]
Businesses are hurting big time on Court Street, by Asar John
The Mazzone surname is familiar to many Carroll Gardens residents, being associated with the neighborhood’s Ace Hardware store on Court Street, in operation for three-quarters of a century. Like many longtime establishments, it’s impossible to be immune to challenges while doing business for 75 years. It’s dealt with a franchise swap, severe supply chain issues and a changing clientele. Now, […]
Dan Goldman’s flack calls BMT co-chair Avilés an opportunist, by Eric Newstrom
In our last issue, we wrote about the month leading up to the vote that approved EDC’s Brooklyn Marine Terminal Vision plan. In a tense meeting, where first-term congressman and BMT Chair Dan Goldman shut down discussions of the revised plan they were voting on in favor of a quick vote (before anybody could change their mind again), the plan […]
Column: One of the weirder NYCHA meetings I’ve ever been to, by George Fiala
Last night I went to a meeting at the Miccio Center that was about two very important things: 1 – Introducing the neighborhood to the GIANT block sized development that has sprung up on Lorraine Street between the chicken place on Duane and the bodega on Columbia, officially called 498 Columbia Street. That’s where the laundromat, bank and 99 cent […]
MUSIC: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottshcalk
Songs of love and pain and monsters. Thank God, or some benevolent power, that Daniel Johnston staked his ground long before the era of social media. These days he’d be consumed and forgotten in a matter of days—memed, mocked and left by the side of the road. But anyone who heard of Johnston back in the ’80s and ’90s likely […]
Gowanus community activists, state lawmaker criticize toxic site cleanup, NYDEC defends plans, by Max White
Local activists and the state environmental agency are at odds over how to clean up a toxic site in Gowanus that the agency determined poses a significant threat to public health or the environment. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has placed the site at 459 Smith St., formerly the location of a manufactured gas plant, into the […]
A little bit of behind the scenes from the Brooklyn Marine Terminal naysayer group ,by Eric Newstrom
Gathered inside a conference room inside the Brooklyn Marine Terminal on Monday, Sept. 22, were 25 task force members in charge of the future of New York City’s last working waterfront. The room was packed: In addition to the task force members and in some cases their staff, were also dozens of Economic Development Corporation staff, including President Andrew Kimball. […]
Community outreach an issue in Court Street controversy, by Asar John
When Community Board 6’s October meeting opened up to public comment regarding a redesign of Court Street, participants echoed their concerns about the board’s transparency, with some residents saying they were not properly made aware of the changes that came to pass. At the end of the meeting, community members were allowed the customary three minutes to speak. Most chose […]
A slow recovery from the Van Brunt fire, by Eric Newstrom
It’s around 11 pm in the warehouse on 481 Van Brunt St., and Ethan Cornell is getting the last details ready for his show the next day. He is tired, having worked late the night before, as well. A podcast is playing in his headphones when he hears a harsh, squealing noise from the studio on the floor above. Not […]
