Red Hook Piers Housing Torpedoed

Kiss housing goodbye in terms of any redevelopment of the Red Hook Piers. The initial proposal as floated by the city's Economic Development Corporation included 350 units of housing on the west side of Columbia Street. The concept was not entirely greeted with open arms by the community. In any case, the Carroll Gardens Courier reports:

“At this time, we don’t feel residential [development] can be incorporated into the plan,” David Kuart, a senior planner at the city’s Economic Development Corporation told the Red Hook Civic Association.

Initially, the EDC, which is leading the $330 million plan, proposed 350 new units of residential housing on the western side of Columbia Street.

But that idea was withdrawn after loud public outcry at a meeting in November. Critics said housing would overwhelm the area, and instead called for more parks and open space.

But housing elsewhere in the 120-acre site was never officially discounted—until the EDC’s announcement to the civic association. A “number of issues” have led officials to scrap the housing component entirely, Kuart said.

Many, many more developments to come.