Activists and Officials Warn Bidders to Stay Away From Land Wanted for Bushwick Inlet Park

Pictured: activists and officials rally Tuesday on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Photo by John V. Santore

WILLIAMSBURG, NY —

A group of activists and elected officials pledged Tuesday to block anything other than a park from coming to the privately held parcels of Williamsburg waterfront land they want added to Bushwick Inlet Park.

In June, the city offered businessman Norm Brodsky $100 million for the land in question — property running west of Kent Street between N. 10th Street N. 11th, plus two parcels between N. 11th and N. 12th. The offer is good until early August.

Brodsky's land is in gray. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

The land is needed to grow Bushwick Inlet Park to the size the city promised the Williamsburg community during a 2005 rezoning of the neighborhood. It also sits in the middle of surrounding parcels the city has already bought for the park project.

But Brodsky has not accepted the city’s money, instead opening his land up to private bids through 5 p.m. on July 20. (As of Tuesday night, a website he established to facilitate the bidding, 1n11th.com, appeared to be down).

Brodsky apparently believes his land is worth as much as $300 million, while realtors at Cushman & Wakefield have presented it as "a unique opportunity to construct a one-of-a-kind retail and office complex with unobstructed views of Manhattan on the coveted North Brooklyn riverfront."

(Neither Brodsky nor Cushman & Wakefield have responded to Patch’s past requests for comment.)

But those gathered on Tuesday argued such visions are a fantasy, intending for their press conference to scare off any potential buyers.

“We will not allow anything to be built on that land except a park,” said Steve Chesler, a leader with the community group Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park.

Councilman Stephen Levin, who represents Williamsburg, said Brodsky’s land contains unknown environmental hazards that must be mitigated, significantly adding to the money any developer would have to sink into the property.

Furthermore, Levin stressed that he “will not support any rezoning of any kind” at the site, limiting what can be built there.

“This community cares about its future,” Levin said. “This is not a flavor of the month. This is actual commitment.”

State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, who represents Williamsburg, called for the city to start eminent domain proceedings on the property, a course of action that local State Senator Martin Malavé Dilan seemed open to as well — describing an eminent domain seizure as “totally within” the city’s power.

(Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, State Senator Daniel Squadron, who represents parts of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and Greenpoint Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney have also backed a park expansion.)

Virginia Ribot, an activist with Williamsburg community group El Puente, said that local kids currently have to breath smog-filled air in existing neighborhood play areas.

“It’s about the health of the children and the community,” she said of Bushwick Inlet Park.

Katherine Conkling Thompson, another leader with the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park group, said she raised three children in Greenpoint, and has always fought for more parkland.

“I believe that open spaces are the places in the city where diversity really lives,” Thompson said. “We’re all equal there, and we share in the beauty of the open space. Those kinds of experiences are what’s going to save us in these [politically divisive] times.”

In June, the Friends put up a banner on Kent Street. counting down the days left before the city’s $100 million offer expires. On Tuesday, Stephen Levin switched the banner’s number to 20.

Levin changes the countdown clock. Photo by John V. Santore