Lackluster first meeting in 2026 for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation

The Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation, BMTDC, convened for the first time this year on Wednesday, April 30. 

The meeting, the third since the development corporation was formed last December, did not include much of note; the agenda included a review of the responses to the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) published late last year by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which asked the maritime industry for ideas on how to optimize maritime use at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. The discussion added little beyond what was presented by the EDC to the community some weeks back. Members of the BMTDC are the only people to have had the chance to review the responses to the RFEI. 

The role of the BMTDC is to “manage the transformation of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal” and to implement other activities brought forward in the BMT vision plan. The board is chaired by Michelle de la Uz, executive director of Fifth Avenue Committee and former member of the BMT task force. On it are also a number of other former members of that task force: State Senator Andrew Gounardes; Red Hook West Resident Association President Karen Blondel and her Red Hook East counterpart Frances Brown; ex-Department of Transportation Commissioner Hank Gutman; maritime expert Jim Tampakis; Amanda Nichols, president of the Cobble Hill Association; Jesse Solomon, Executive Director, Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation; John Nardi, president of the Shipping Association of New York and New Jersey; and Mike Racioppo, CB6’s district manager. (All but two of the former task force members now on the BMTDC board voted yes to the vision plan.)

The auditorium at Borough Hall was open to members of the public, and while the room was far from packed, some community members had made their way there. One group of Red Hook and Columbia Street Waterfront residents wore hospital masks with red X’s on them, protesting a BMTDC rule which states that, while the public may attend meetings, they are not allowed to address the board or the EDC. 

For the most part, the meeting remained cordial. Sparks began to fly briefly, however, during an exchange between Hank Gutman, Karen Blondel, and Randy Gordon, acting president of the Columbia Street Waterfront Alliance (CSWA). Gutman noted that there were several members of the BMT Task Force who opposed the vision plan, and that the public engagement process failed to engage the community. Gordon, who was not on the task force, seconded Gutman’s sentiment, after which Blondel rebutted, saying she has experienced intimidation from members of the CSWA.

The time and location of the BMTDC’s next meeting have not yet been announced.