It started with 63 Tiffany. Now John Leyva speaks for the whole neighborhood, by Eric Newstrom

On July 24, the vote on the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) was postponed again, for the fifth time. This time was somewhat different from last, as it was initiated by outspoken no-voters on the BMT Task Force, to allow for more time to come up with a viable plan for the site.

Nevertheless, for many community members this postponement only marked another delay to an inherently flawed process. John Leyva, a longtime community leader and advocate, wrote in a statement to the Red Hook Star-Revue:

“We are deeply frustrated by yet another postponement of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Final Vision Plan—the fifth delay in a process that was promised to center community input. Each postponement reinforces the sense that our voices are being sidelined while decisions are made behind closed doors. As a result, the community has lost trust in this administration and in the NYC Economic

This fifth postponement was especially disappointing because we had the votes to reject this misguided, predetermined vision plan—and that’s exactly what we were prepared to do. The sooner we reject this plan, the sooner we can begin working toward a true redevelopment process grounded in transparency, community priorities, and shared values.”

Scrap the EDC plan
Leyva also sat down with the Star-Revue to talk about the latest postponement and what it means for the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. He reiterated that if it were up to him, he would have preferred for the task force to vote, and for the current vision plan to be scrapped.

“I wanted it to get voted down and start from scratch. Let’s do this right from scratch,” he said, but added that he understands that not every no-voters feels the same. “You never want to be looked at as a person trying to just be an obstructionist, and I think there’s just people on there that want to see this through, and want to see if we can salvage this. I don’t know how we can salvage it.”

This Spring and Summer, the community group Voices of the Waterfront has organized several rallies, in recent weeks on the days when votes were scheduled. At the last one, on July 24, U.S. Rep Jerry Nadler, an outspoken supporter of the maritime industry, spoke. He urged those in charge of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal planning process—Mayor Eric Adams and the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC)—to take care of the port right away so that its future doesn’t hinge on the the BMT vision plan, and then leave things like housing and public space to a proper, community-driven process.

The City seems reluctant to do so, however.

“This is a crime of opportunity. The EDC saw this opportunity and they said, ’Let’s throw it all in together.’ But this didn’t have to be this complicated,” Leyva said.

If he could choose, it would be a “community-led process without a predetermined outcome.” That means giving community members all the information they need, crowdsourcing ideas, and let people try out different scenarios. “Maybe people will come to the same conclusion. I doubt it, but maybe people will look at the numbers and look at everything and say, ’Well, you know what? I understand now.’ But give everybody all the information, and let’s figure this out together,” he said.

Bait and switch
In the initial grant applications the City sent to the federal government, only pier repairs were mentioned, A year later, the plan includes everything from luxury housing and green space to electric shuttles and hotels. The cost of the redevelopment has also ballooned, from a few hundred million dollars in pier repairs to $1.7 billion. For months, task force members have asked EDC officials to substantiate its financial plan, with little luck.

“How can we proceed with any of this when the numbers, the premise that this is all built on, is wrong?” Leyva said.

He isn’t even impressed with the plan.

“I’ve told the EDC, even if we don’t agree with it, wow us. Show us something. It’s just such an uninspired plan. We have thousands of cruise passengers that come through here. A lot of them go to Manhattan. Why not give them something to do here and keep some of that money in the economy here?”

Instead of being visionary, the City is doing what it’s done along Brooklyn and Queens’ waterfront.

“They have a cookie cutter approach for every waterfront. You build housing, put a beautiful esplanade so that people can be happy, so they can look at the sunset. But this is not that, because this is a working waterfront. And they haven’t taken that seriously,” Leyva said.

While Mayor Adams has largely stayed out of directly commenting on the BMT in the past year, many in the community believe he is playing a role in how the EDC has approached the public engagement process,

“We keep saying the EDC, but this is Eric Adams’ EDC. This is his plan,” said Leyva. These are his people that he put in. We shouldn’t take this major decision right before we more than likely are going to have a new mayor. To pigeonhole them into a deal that was made before him doesn’t make sense to me.”

There is no new date for the vote. And scratching the plan completely at this point is unlikely, given how hard EDC is working convince task force members to vote “yes.” The City isn’t taking the responsibility it should, Leyva argued.

“You can’t count on developers to do that. Developers care about making money, and that’s all they should care about. I’m not even mad at them; that’s their job. But the job of the government is to figure out what people need, what would make people’s quality of life better.”