It was a close one. March 31 was the last day for the public to comment on the scope of the environmental review for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment, and into the evening, community members, who in the previous week had been pushing for more time, still thought they only had a few hours to submit their final comments. Then, around 7 p.m., State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon announced on her Instagram that the deadline had been moved to May 8.

The renewed efforts to extend the comment period was spurred on by the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) two presentations on Tuesday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 25, where the public for the first time got to see the results of a Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI), in which it asked the maritime industry for ideas for how to optimize maritime use at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT).

While the quasi-public agency did not share the actual RFEI (it is also no longer available on its website), nor the full responses, a team of EDC officials led by David Lowin, senior vice president of the asset management division, provided virtual attendees with a curated look into how some national and local maritime companies view the future of New York’s last working waterfront.

25 companies or consortiums responded to the RFEI, and the overall response was positive to the maritime plan outlined in the BMT vision plan, according to Lowin.

He didn’t go into much detail about the structure of the RFEI, including how questions had been asked. However, Lowin said that the specifics of the current plan were included, and that the RFEI “invited respondents to provide alternatives” on aspects like size and kinds of operations at the port.

Many of the respondents believe 60 acres is appropriate for the intended uses of the port, and supported the construction of a marginal pier in place of the condemned piers at the northern part of the site. Several also expressed willingness to invest significantly in the site, but, Lowin noted, most provided few financial details.

Carolina Salguero, founder and executive director of PortSide NewYork, a nonprofit dedicated to education, workforce development and advocacy for the maritime industry and New York’s waterfront, said that the RFEI was itself light on details.

“They were not really drilling down on a whole bunch of things,” Salguero said. “It was what I would call a think piece.”
PortSide was one of seven current BMT tenants that submitted a response to the RFEI.

Among the respondents were also multinational port operators like Carrix, Seaboard Marine (in a joint venture with current port operator Red Hook Container Terminal), and Prologis; cruise operators Cruise Terminals International and Global Ports Holding; service providers looking to provide logistical support to the port operator; and BMT tenants like Skyports, which suggested a drone-enabled Blue Highways logistics facility.

Only Prologis proposed an alternative footprint, keeping the finger piers.

Proposals not binding
EDC officials on the call emphasized that the responses to the RFEI would not be used to select future operators at the site, and stated that while suggestions received through the RFEI will be analyzed as part of the environmental impact statement (EIS), including a port-first plan as an alternative in the EIS is required to satisfy regulatory requirements.

“While the EIS may include a port alternative for its value in comparative analysis purposes, it’s important to emphasize that we continue to advance the Brooklyn Marine Terminal project as outlined in the approved vision plan,” said Brooke Tango, senior VP of land use at the EDC. “Alternatives in the EIS will ultimately be judged by how closely they fulfill the project’s goals and objectives, as outlined in the vision plan.”

The RFEI was originally sent out in October 2025, at the request of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who asked EDC for it in exchange for an affirmative vote on the proposed vision plan.

“At the start of the BMT vision plan process, it was identified that understanding the market demand for the continued use of the property for maritime and port operations was key to forming an appropriate vision for the site,” said Lowin. A contractor hired by EDC conducted the only investigation during the year-long public engagement process, despite multiple BMT Task Force members requesting independent reviews of parts of the vision plan (including market demand and financial viability), during the public engagement process.

Salguero argued that the RFEI should have begun soliciting ideas before the public engagement process even began in 2024.
“That would have been the fair and objective way to do this,” she said.

Jim Tampakis, owner of Marine Spares International and former member of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force, is on the board of the newly formed Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation and therefore had a chance to review the responses to the RFEI, He concurred, saying, “We could have gone out to these people and gotten input from them on how they think we should have done this.”

He added that releasing an RFEI after approval of the vision plan “ reduces our ability to maintain our ports.”

Salguero maintains that it would be a mistake to build housing on the site, no matter the size or structure of port operations.

“It’s Crazyland to propose a lot of housing here in this subsiding, 19th-century fill that is flooding, has a high water table, and doesn’t look to have strong holding ground. How deep are you going to have to put in piles to hold up anything?” she questioned.

Here is information on the next RFEI meeting, which takes place on Monday the 13th of April.

Join us for the next public information session on responses to the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) Port Operations and Maritime Industrial Uses Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI). This in-person session will include a presentation on the responses to the Port RFEI followed by dedicated time for Q&A. Please note the presentation is the same as the virtual sessions on March 24 and March 25.

Date: Monday, April 13, 2026
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: Sacred Hearts St Stephens Church
125 Summit St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

All members of the public are welcome and encouraged to participate. Please RSVP in advance so that we can accurately estimate attendance. Language interpretation will be available in Spanish and Mandarin.

If you have questions or comments, please email: [email protected].