First Blows Landed in Red Hook Port Smackdown

For some time, we've been saying that the fight over the future of the Red Hook Container Port--and the plan to redevelop 1.1 miles of waterfront--would be one of the big Brooklyn development fights of 2007. Yesterday, the first serious blows were landed in a major political context. (As opposed to the smaller community meetings which have been ongoing and contentious). Yesterday featured a rally on the steps of City Hall and major criticism at a City Council committee hearing. The Sun was impressed enough to suggest that incoming Gov. Eliot Spitzer would ultimately have to step in to referee the fight. The immediate issue is port jobs--but there are many, many others in the community ranging from housing to the nature of the development itself.

The fight centers around Piers 7-12, various plans to shut the 42-acre container port and replace it with everything from a second cruise ship terminal to a brewery and a plan to build a smaller replacement facility in Sunset Park. The Economic Development Corporation said on Wednesday that it wouldn't rezone the area west of Columbia Street for housing and it also dropped a hotel proposal.

The rally and testimony yesterday, however, were about the overall plan to buy the port from the Port Authority, close it and redevelop the land. At the hearing, Rep. Jerry Nadler blasted the city for "a short-sighted and capricious attitude toward development." He said the current facility handles 200,000 containers a year while a replacement would only handle 50,000.

As we said before, this is a fight that could make Atlantic Yards look like an afternoon tea.