Red Hook Brooklyn's Atlantic Basin & the NYC EDC

The EDC is the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit charged with managing a huge real estate portfolio for the city (over 64 million square feet by 2020), creating economic development and resiliency plans and more. Since it is outside City government per se, the City Council does not vote on its budget; and it is able to evade transparency and can be unresponsive to input. More on our webpage rethinkEDC

If you have been to this page before, it has evolved starting in 2022 and is being updated often to capture the latest.

In 2005, the EDC rented the Atlantic Basin facility from the Port Authority, saying that the EDC needed all of it to support the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on Pier 12 which opened in 2006. The current “Atlantic Basin" managed by the EDC currently refers to an area that includes the waterspace, 2 large sheds (Pier 11, Pier 12 that are each about three blocks long) and a sea of asphalt connecting it all from Wolcott Street to Bowne Street abutting the Red Hook Container Terminal (RHCT).  The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on Pier 12 and NYC Ferry dock are here, as is PortSide’s ship MARY A. WHALEN. Atlantic Basin, along with Piers 6-12, have been the subject of a rollercoaster planning process since late 2002.  

Since getting control of Atlantic Basin, the EDC put out multiple RFPs and several conducted planning processes and development initiatives in an effort to figure out how to use all the space. Much of it is has often been unused or underused.

Atlantic Basin is a rare, maritime asset: a man-made protected body of water. The current iteration is much smaller than the historic Atlantic Basin, sometimes called Atlantic Docks. More about that in our e-museum Red Hook WaterStories.  

List of EDC RFPs and major changes in Atlantic Basin

  • Detailed descriptions, history, links to documents are below this list.

  • A glossary of planning and zoning terms are below that.

  • At the very bottom is info about the Piers 6-12 study which kicked off in 2002, and the 2006 RFEI. The Piers 6-12 study is the last time the EDC tried to replan this large stretch of waterfront; they are doing it again in 2024.

Late 2005: American Stevedoring is abruptly evicted from Atlantic Basin as the EDC says they need the whole facility to support the new cruise terminal.

Spring 2006: Brooklyn Cruise Terminal opens

September 2006 RFEI due: the EDC issues an RFEI (Request for Expressions of Interest) for Atlantic Basin. PortSide responds. More on this in the bottom section.

February 2007 RFP due: the EDC issues an RFP (Request for Proposals) for Atlantic Basin. PortSide responds.

Summer 2008, the EDC begins announcing results of the 2007 RFP. The “Water Taxi plan” will not win, Phoenix Beverage a beer distributor will, and many Red Hook people are angry. The EDC promises a community give-back to Red Hook, a home for PortSide NewYork with 600’ of pier to program, shared use of the parking lot south of the Pier 11 Shed and about 6,500 sq ft inside that. The EDC makes PortSide do what they call “interim programs” for 3 years under unsustainable conditions, and do not give us the home in the end. More in the detailed summary below.

March 2009 plans for cruise terminal shorepower are announced (aka cold ironing). Initially the cruise terminal is jointly run by the Port Authority and EDC. It was not built with shorepower. Community pressure, led by Adam Armstrong prompts this March, 2009 announcement.

3/22/2010 RFP, EDC puts out an RFP Atlantic Basin Upland Programmer

3/24/11 RFP The EDC releases the Atlantic Basin wharfage RFP seeking tugboat docking.

April 13, 2011, a deal for cruise terminal shorepower is finalized Mayor Bloomberg, Port Authority, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York Power Authority, Princess Cruises and Cunard Line announce partnership to introduce shore power.

3/29/12 RFP the EDC releases the RFP for Operator of Multiple Berths, eg, seeks a company to manage the docking of ships at the piers the EDC controls. Pier 11 Atlantic Basin is one of those.

8/17/12 RFP the EDC releases the RFP for Sublease for Pier 11 warehouse.

7/1/14 Atlantic Basin Development Study by rePLACE Urban Studio, Published on Jul 1, 2014. Not downloadable; you have to read it on line.

5/29/15 the EDC allows PortSide to return to Atlantic Basin with the flagship MARY A. WHALEN as part of a deal with Councilman Carlos Menchaca: the EDC needed his approval to develop SBMT in Sunset Park; Menchaca and the EDC sign an LOI; and a home for PortSide is the only Red Hook element in it. Summer 2015, PortSide begins trying to get the building space in the Pier 11 Shed the EDC promised in the past. Pier 11 is now managed by BillyBey Marina Services as part of the EDC’s DockNYC program, so PortSide does not try to get the previously-promised 600’ of Pier 11, and we don’t try for the parking lot space either.

2017 summer, Formula E car race starts annual races. They get a 10-year contract with the EDC. There was no RFP for this, proof of what and EDC SVP told PortSide in 2009: the EDC had determined that since this is not City property as it is owned by the Port Authority, the EDC does not need to follow City procurement rules. Note that the EDC seeks to avoid City procurement rules.

November 11, 2016, the EDC announces that the cruise terminal shorepower is fully operational.

April, 2019, at a Resilient Red Hook meeting, the EDC finally provides an explanation for why the cruise terminal shorepower has not work most of the time since they declared it “fully operational” on November 11, 2011: they bought the wrong jib (aka crane that holds the massive electrical cord).

January 29, 2020, the EDC issues the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Citywide Ferry Service Expansion, eg, to create a NYC Ferry Homeport 2 on Pier 11 in Atlantic Basin.

During Spring 2020 (March to May), the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on Pier 12 becomes a $21MM emergency COVID hospital which never opens or is used.

March 2021, Homeport II Permit Application 2021 to build that NYC Ferry Homeport 2.

April 23, 2021, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ Facebook page says “In honor of #EarthWeek2021, today, in partnership with NYCEDC, I announced $750,000 in funding to expand shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.” 

Monday, 9/16/22 evictions: most of the boat tenants are evicted via an email saying they have to be out by the weekend so that the NYC Ferry Homeport 2  construction can start.

Friday, 9/23/22 eviction: at 3:55pm on Friday of Rosh Hashanah weekend, PortSide gets an eviction letter for PortSide Park which we installed without EDC permission to serve desperate people using the asphalt during the pandemic. Must be out by Monday. We remove the park over the weekend.

December 7 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announces that MSC Cruise ships will dock in Brooklyn.

January 21, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announces that BCT will become an emergency shelter (HERRC) for migrants or asylum seekers until the cuise season starts. The EDC hires the contractors to install and run the HERRC.

Late April 2023 RFP: the EDC releases an RFP: Pier 11, Atlantic Basin - Anchor Tenant Sub-Lease.  This would displace PortSide and make us homeless. We responded. The EDC cancelled this RFP on 5/15/24, the day after the press conference that said that the City was taking over the property from the Port Authority, making EDC the property manager and lead on the replanning process.

4/20/23 the MSC cruise ship Meraviglia starts coming to Red Hook. It’s the 5th largest cruise ship in the world, and it causes huge traffic problems in Red Hook. Soon thereafter, our Councilmember Alexa Aviles begins running a weekly Zoom call with the EDC, the Red Hook Business Alliance and some residents to improve things. The EDC responds, hires a traffic consultant that produces this report and makes changes on the ground; but more improvements are needed.

9/18/23 press conference on Pioneer Street about Council Intro 1050 that our Councilmember Alexa Aviles created with Manhattan Councilmember Erik Bottcher who has the larger Manhattan Cruise Terminal in his district. It mandates that the EDC require that cruise ships use shorepower, that shorepower be installed in Manhattan, and that the EDC create cruise traffic mitigation plans.

On 9/28/23, the EDC puts out a press release with promises about shorepower use, traffic plans, and community benefits. For the latter, the EDC proposes that they would manage a community benefit fund created via a cruise passenger head fee. The community is interested in binding legislation such as Intro 1050 because the EDC has historically not fulfilled promises to Red Hook, so new promises are not persuasive. Councilmember Alexa Aviles’ office is working with the community on a response to the EDC’s unilateral move in putting out this press release. The EDC had told the weekly Zoom working group that, after a two week hiatus, we would reconvene to discuss economic development as promised; instead we were all surprised by the EDC’s 9/28 press release. In 2024, Intro 1050 became Intro 4. Despite the EDC’s counter proposals and a PR campaign, the bill passed unanimously on 3/7/24. It mandates that the EDC fix the shorepower in Red Hook at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and install it for the first time at the bigger Manhattan Cruise Terminal. The bill also mandates that the EDC create traffic mitigation plans - a response to the massive traffic caused by the MSC ship Meraviglia in Red Hook as of 4/20/23.

5/14/24, a press conference was held in the Red Hook Container Terminal that revealed that that the City would take over the property from the Port Authority, making EDC the property manager and lead on the replanning process for the “Brooklyn Marine Terminal” (BMT). The property runs south from Brooklyn Bridge Park, starting at Atlantic Avenue/Pier 7 to Red Hook’s Wolcott Street (almost to Valentino Park).

Detailed descripion of some of the above:

  • late 2005: American Stevedoring is abruptly evicted from Atlantic Basin as the EDC says they need the whole facility to support the new cruise terminal.

  • Spring 2006: Brooklyn Cruise Terminal opens

  • September 2006 RFEI due: the EDC issues an RFEI (Request for Expressions of Interest) for Atlantic Basin. PortSide responds.

  • February 2007 RFP due: the EDC issues an RFP (Request for Proposals) for Atlantic Basin. PortSide responds.

  • Summer 2007: media reports that the RFP plans are dead.

  • Spring 2008 American Stevedoring gets a 10 year lease from the Port Authority for piers 7-10.

  • Late summer 2008 RFP updates: a new round of news stories about the basin comes out after RFP rejection letters are received by many. PortSide does not receive a rejection letter. The EDC promised a PortSide NewYork home in Atlantic Basin with 600’ of pier to program, use of the parking lot south of the Pier 11 shed when no cruise ships are in (it is the truck staging area) and about 6,500 sq ft in the Pier 11 shed. See the difference between what the EDC said they were seeking in this RFP and how they ultimately concluded the RFP process in March 2009 by renting the Pier 11 shed to Phoenix Beverage; and promising PortSide a home and not delivering it versus the vision for the RFP.as described in this article: besides a marina, the EDC said it was looking for uses such as maritime support services, including marine repair and refitting; boar sales; dry dock storage and fueling facilities. “Preference will be given to proposals that maximize public access to Atlantic Basin and improve the waterfront experience for visitors and residents, as well as those that include an integrated job apprenticeship or vocational training program for local residents”). Several documentations of the EDC promises of that home for PortSide are here.

  • December 2008 PortSide throws the Mary Whalen's 70th birthday party in Atlantic Basin after the EDC arranges access. Some 500 attend according to the EDC, in fact about 100 attend. Press release

  • Monday 1/5/09, 6:30pm Presenters at the meeting:

    • EDC (first public presentation of their new plans for Atlantic Basin) New York Water Taxi (presenting NYWT/Durst Org master plan for Atlantic Basin that was rejected but which they want reconsidered.)

    • PortSide NewYork (general update and description of what our Atlantic Basin programs would be) PortSide taped this meeting and provides the following transcripts:
      Intro and EDC presentation
      New York Water Taxi presentation
      PortSide NewYork presentation
      QnA

  • 2/10/09, a real estate deal is struck by Phoenix, ASI, the Port Authority, and Jerry Nadler's office and is announced in the NY Times. Many Red Hook people had called for the “Water Taxi” plan to win the 2007 RFP. The EDC reiterates that as a community give-back to Red Hook, a home for PortSide NewYork is promised, as the EDC started saying publicly summer 2008. .

  • From 2008 through Spring 2011, the EDC asks PortSide “to do interim programs in Atlantic Basin… to see what you can do.” The terms are challenging and unsustainable, a series of short-notice permits (9 days notice was the shortest 20 days was the longest). For the summer 2010 permit, we have 1.5 hour-long meetings every other Friday for 7 months to discuss this. A few meeting in that cycle are cancelled due to holidays etc, but the whole process takes 7 months, and we get the 59 day permit just 20 days before the permit starts, eg no time to get grants or corporate sponsors or even get events listed in the media. We are able to book the talent since we have a deep inventory of ideas and contacts. The EDC also says that we can’t ask Cunard for a donation, meaning that the biggest corporation on site is not available as a sponsor to compensate for this short notice. We pull off quality programs for mostly small audiences. We repeatedly ask for a lease or LOI or some contract to provide a guarantee about the space and help us raise money. (Grants are not available under the last-minute programming conditions the EDC has been offering.) The EDC does not give PortSide confirmation in writing of the PortSide home they have announced publicly.

  • 3/22/2010 RFP, The EDC puts out an RFP Atlantic Basin Upland Programmer, for “cultural uses” programming of the parking lot between the internal roadway and Imlay and Pioneer Streets. We feel this competes with our ability to program on site, that it contains concepts we would execute; though the EDC has not resolved their promises to PortSide. The RFP does not lead to anyone winning the RFP or to any new programming.

  • Fall 2010, the EDC asks us to do a building code review of a portion of the Pier 11 shed that was promised to us (the former Fumigation Center offices in the SE corner) to see what changes need to be done for it to be compliant with public access use. We do this work and submit it. The EDC puts out an RFP to get their own architect to reivew our work. That firm Perkins & Will works on this and then asks for an extension. Venetia Lannon, the EDC SVP who had supported PortSide, leaves the EDC. Soon thereafter, the EDC says they will not provide PortSide the promised home saying only “We are putting out another RFP.” Later, when we get the Perkins & Will study, we find that it claims they worked with PortSide (they did not) and that it includes highly inflated costs for work and work we would not do. It does not reflect our plans; but the EDC uses it to justify their denying PortSide use of this space.

  • 3/24/11 RFP The EDC releases the Atlantic Basin wharfage RFP seeking tugboats. This RFP also contains aspects of PortSide’s plans (short-term tie-up for tugboats to provision, get potable water, change crew). Vane Brothers is a respondent. In their response, they offer marine engineering support to PortSide as a community give-back since the EDC had been promising us a home on site. Shortly after the RFP release, the EDC backs out of that promise. Vane enters into discussions with the EDC for almost 2 years. In the end, the EDC says they couldn’t make the numbers work, eg, they couldn’t get enough money out of the deal. This is not uncommon with EDC RFPs since they approach the situation with goals and demands that often don’t correspond to the real world. This wears out RFP respondents who take the time to work up these proposals, which can lead to protracted negotiations. After this experience, summer 2014, Vane Brothers tries again with the EDC at the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), spending almost 2 years on that one. PortSide is simultaneously trying to get tie-up space on that pier, but the EDC tells us we have to wait until they solve the Vane matter. The EDC handles public outreach badly, the Sunset Park community does not trust the EDC due to many prior unfulfilled promises, and they protest the idea of having Vane Barges on the community’s public-access pier. The EDC backs down, Vane nets nothing after a total of almost 4 years seeking wharfage space they urgently need, and PortSide does not get a space there either, so we return to efforts to get a home in Atlantic Basin. The EDC was lying to the Sunset Park community. The EDC claimed the BAT pier had no fendering (essential for ship docking) for the maritime programs the community wanted on the north side of the pier, so the EDC claimed it needed to rent the south side to fuel barges whose rent would pay for the fendering.

  • April 13, 2011, a deal for cruise terminal shorepower is finalized Mayor Bloomberg, Port Authority, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York Power Authority, Princess Cruises and Cunard Line announce partnership to introduce shore power.

  • 3/29/12 RFP the EDC releases the RFP for Operator of Multiple Berths. This becomes the DockNYC program, managed by NY Waterway, which ends up managing the wharfage on Pier 11, Atlantic Basin as well as all the other sites around NYC. More sites are added to the portfolio over time. The EDC extends NY Waterway’s contract during the pandemic. This reflects another aspect of PortSide plans; the EDC had promised us 600’ of pier to manage. That would have generated revenue that would make us financially sustainable.

  • 8/17/12 RFP the EDC releases the RFP for Sublease for Pier 11 warehouse. This includes the space that had been promised to PortSide. See coverage in the blog A View From The Hook which expresses consternation that PortSide has been dumped and other EDC promises to the community are not met.

  • 7/1/14 Atlantic Basin Development Study by rePLACE Urban Studio, Published on Jul 1, 2014. Not downloadable; you have to read it on line.

  • 5/29/15 PortSide returns to Atlantic Basin, (feel the excitement in this video) ending almost 10 years of invisility and site limitations while our ship MARY A. WHALEN was in the Red Hook Container Terminal and doing pop-up programs as described above and in other locations. We get back here, with just space for the ship, because the EDC needed Councilmember Carlos Menchaca’s approval before they could get a long term lease for SBMT in Sunset Park and put out an RFP. Menchaca made the EDC sign an LOI that committed the EDC to creating community benefits from that RFP, taking community input to shape that RFP (creating the Sunset Park Task Force), investing a share of the revenue from the lease in Sunset Park – and provide a home for PortSide. We were not party to those conversations, so unfortunately the home for PortSide was just space for the ship, no building space or shared use of the parking lot as promised before. DockNYC has a contract for the whole Pier 11, so there is no way that PortSide gets the originally promised 600’ of pier either. We are glad to get out of Red Hook Container Terminal, but we know this is not enough space to make us financially sustainable (and become the PortSide of our long-standing plans), so in summer 2015, we start attempts to get the building space. PortSide works with Councilman Carlos Menchaca to get that.

  • November 11, 2016, the EDC announces that the cruise terminal shorepower is fully operational.

  • 6/1/17 the EDC starts the NYC Ferry service in Atlantic Basin. The EDC promised ferry service here when first announcing plans for the cruise terminal in 2004, but they had not delivered on that promise. As they plan the rollout of NYC Ferry, the EDC proposed putting the ferry dock in other Red Hook locations. This triggered community uproar, and in a rare case of Red Hook winning in a face-off with the EDC, the ferry dock was installed in Atlantic Basin. The NYC Ferry is promoted by the EDC as an amenity in transit deserts and an asset for NYCHA residents. Few Red Hook NYCHA residents ride the ferry, and by PortSide begins making suggestions to the EDC (non acted upon) about how to do outreach to Red Hook NYCHA residents.

  • 2018 The EDC makes PortSide do yet another business plan to get what they promised us before.  November 2017, Councilman Carlos Menchaca brings the EDC President James Patchett to the Mary Whalen for a meeting about the building space in the Pier 11 shed. Patchett says “Carolina, I checked with legal, and we can’t give you the building space since your RFP response was so long ago.”  We know this to be false since an EDC SVP told us years ago that the EDC had decided they can “sole source” (rent to whoever they want) in Atlantic Basin because it is not property owned by the City, it is owned by the Port Authority. (Note that the EDC’s 2023 RFP for Atlantic Basin says they can rent to entities who have not responded to the RFP.)  Patchett gives us the option to look at a space in Sunset Park, and if we don’t want that, do a new business plan for the Pier 11 building space. We reject the Sunset Park space because it is special-event use and do the business plan, a demanding process. Doing that business plan means we don’t complete our FEMA Sandy recovery project on time because we cannot sustain two such large projects at once. This is how the EDC wears the small operator down.  During our January 2019 presentation of the business plan, the lead talker for the EDC, SVP Matthew Kwatinetz says “what do you mean you were promised a home here before,” and he asks us to do a ramp up plan – which is included in the business plan. Councilman Carlos Menchaca and Nydia Velazquez negotiate with the EDC until around September 2019, but don’t succeed in getting dedicated space for PortSide.  PortSide plans to go public in early 2020 with how the EDC has been unfair to us for years, but the pandemic hits.

  • 2017 to 2022 Formula E car race: In 2017, the EDC gives the Formula E car race a ten-year contract to run a car race in Atlantic Basin which occurs one weekend in July with a build-out and deconstruction that takes about 5 weeks. We are not aware of any RFP that preceeds this deal. The race displaces and hinders many tenants for over one month a year and kills PortSide’s summer programs due to the scale of the disruption. Due to the disruptions, by the second year of the race, several warehouse tenants leave. Phoenix Beverage, which had the master lease to run the Pier 11 shed, (a huge warehouse several blocks long) is able to break their lease due to the impact of managing the race. For a period of 2018, according to warehouse tenants, Formula E itself manages the warehouse and says rents will increase dramatically, so several more tenants leave. At some point, the EDC assumes management of the Pier 11 warehouse. Initially, Formula E stores things and has their race ops center off site. Over time, Formula E moves management into the Pier 11 shed and then grows their storage footprint here, so that by 2019, they occupy a large part of the southern end of it (blocking PortSide’s use of that space for which we did yet another business plan for the EDC in 2018), and the race uses several bays in the middle of it during the race itself. The race does not occur in 2020 due to Covid and is reduced to one day in 2021. It returns to running a full weekend in 2022; but then in December 2022 announces that they will not race here in 2023. It is clear to PortSide that the increase in cruise ships (see December 7, 2022 news below) means that Formula E cannot race here any more; there is not enough time for them to construct the race track, stands and bridges, race and remove it all between ships every weekend.

  • April 2019, the EDC begins making local presentations about their plans to build the NYC Ferry Homeport 2 in Atlantic Basin. They make presentations to Resilient Red Hook and Brooklyn CB6.

  • April, 2019, at a Resilient Red Hook meeting, the EDC finally provides an explanation for why the cruise terminal shorepower has not work most of the time since they declared it “fully operational” on November 11, 2011: they bought the wrong jib (aka crane that holds the massive electrical cord).

  • January 29, 2020, the EDC issues the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Citywide Ferry Service Expansion, eg, to create a NYC Ferry Homeport 2 on Pier 11 in Atlantic Basin. This causes consternation in the maritime sector since it would displace all the boats tied up here under the DockNYC program (without offering them a new home). The EDC says PortSide can stay, but they failed to deliver on prior promises, so we are concerned. The pandemic hits as comments to the DSEIS are due. The EDC extends the deadline, but most people are focused on the pandemic as are we. PortSide has wondered if the EDC chose Atlantic Basin for the ferry homeport due to prioritizing the Formula E car race. Putting their own ferry fleet in the basin with an ops center at the north end of the warehouse creates a use that the EDC can oblige to cohabitate with the car race without compensation and the annual haggling with tenants about the impact of Formula E, eg a land use drives plans for a maritime center. Also, maritime voices point out that providing Pier 11 space to NYC Ferry supports Hornblower whose charter boat business competes with most of the other ships on Pier 11.

  • During Spring 2020 (March to May), the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on Pier 12 becomes a $21MM emergency COVID hospital which never opens or is used. One lasting benefit is that wifi was finally installed in the Pier 12 building. The lack of wifi had frustrated European cruise passengers for years since they don’t have USA SIM cards in their phones and can’t get internet without the wifi. The lack of wifi limited their ability to find info about Red Hook, and since the EDC never installed any Red Hook promos in BCT or responded to PortSide requests to let us install it, Red Hook remained unpromoted in BCT despite EDC promises that the cruise terminal would benefit local businesses, primarily retail. The wifi was installed by BK Fiber of Red Hook, so a local company did benefit from this.

  • March 2021, Homeport II Permit Application 2021. Note that page 13 of the document refers to PortSide’s historic ship, citing her importance and says “The Homeport II project will maintain a minimum of 100 feet of clearance away from the vessel and will work in coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to prevent any disturbance to the vessel in its current location." This 135 page document has a lot of data and renderings that show the footprint of the proposed Homeport II. During the pandemic, Pier 11 boat tenants are told several times that work will start on X date, and that date comes, and nothing happens.

  • April 23, 2021, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ Facebook page says “In honor of #EarthWeek2021, today, in partnership with NYCEDC, I announced $750,000 in funding to expand shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.”  As of January 2024, the shorepower is not fixed.

  • Monday, 9/16/22 evictions: most of the boat tenants are evicted via an email saying they have to be out by the weekend so that the homeport construction can start. This is hard on businesses that are struggling to rebound from the pandemic. One company moves its boats to Jersey City.

  • Friday, 9/23/22 eviction: at 3:55pm, PortSide gets a cease and desist letter from our DockNYC dockmaster, acting on behalf of the EDC, evicting PortSide Park, the beloved and award-winning minipark of 5 parking spaces that we created during the pandemic. We face the risk of the ship being evicted if we don’t remove the park by Monday. We get it all out. Our statement and media coverage are here.

  • December 7 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announces that MSC Cruise ships will dock in Brooklyn. No direct benefits to Red Hook are promised. He says $102 million a year will be spent in “our restaurants, our shops, in our bars;” but there is no info about Red Hook in BCT, so there’s little chance such spending is happening here. He announces a major $236,000 donation from MSC that will benefit “seven Red Hook GreenThumb Parks” (but there are none; they are in the Columbia Waterfront District) and the NYC Junior Ambassador program. Red Hook is thus used to raise money for other communities, while the cruise terminal shorepower is not fixed yet, so we get the pollution impacts.

  • January 21, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announces that BCT will become an emergency shelter (HERRC) for migrants or asylum seekers until the cuise season starts. At first, statements are that the HERRC will be here through April. In the end, March 30 is their last day, and cruise ships start in late April. The Red Hook community, including PortSide, steps up to help the migrants with diverse efforts including donations, language classes and other services. Migrants use our ship deck during TankerTime, and a donation event is held aboard.

  • Late April 2023 RFP: the EDC releases an RFP: Pier 11, Atlantic Basin - Anchor Tenant Sub-Lease. This covers all of Atlantic Basin that is not used by cruise terminal ops, the NYC Ferry Homeport 2 being constructed, or the weedpatch south of our ship MARY A. WHALEN. No home for PortSide, neither for the ship nor the building space PortSide has long sought and the EDC promised us for years, are guaranteed us. The EDC did not notify PortSide of this RFP in advance (as they did with their 2011 wharfage RFP) nor any other tenants as far as we know. The EDC RFP contact is Pier11ShedSubleaseRFP@edc.nyc. RFP Timeline:

    Monday, May 8, 2pm site visit - during this site visit, we confirm that PortSide is NOT guaranteed a home here. We are told that we can respond to the RFP, but since the EDC blew off our 2018 business plan, and we have become overt with our criticisms of their performance with our campaign #rethinkEDC, we don’t think the EDC would consider a reasonable plan from us.

    Thursday, May 11, 5pm, deadline to RSVP to email above for 5/15 info session below.

    Monday, May 15, 2pm info session at the NYCEDC at One Liberty Plaza, 14th Floor, with an option to join virtually. 

    Saturday, 8/5/23, 11:59pm submission deadline was extended until 2/14/24.

Archival information from 2006: (note CB6 could not afford the webhosting fees for www.waterfrontmatters.org so the site went dead but can be found here).

CITY PLANS CHANGING THE RED HOOK WATERFRONT
Text by Carolina Salguero.  Editing, and background on the ULURP process and terminology by Craig Hammerman, CB6 District Manager at the time of writing the original version of this webpage.

Planning and zoning glossary, Intro to planner's alphabet soup

ULURP, DEIS, MX, R1, M2 what’s it all mean? Here are some resources.

ULURP  timetable/process flow chart  click

NYS info on SEQRA http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dcs/seqr/index.html

Glossary of planning terms: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/glossary.shtml

How to read a zoning map http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_readmap.shtml

Zoning Handbook ($25) http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/pub/zonehand.shtml

PlanNYC, planning news and info.  A service of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University  www.plannyc.org.  See page http://www.plannyc.org/resources

ULURP  timetable/process flow chart click

Download map at right click

Detailed info about EDC planning efforts about the Red Hook waterfront 2002 thru 2007

Note: December 20, 2006 the EDC launched a new website. Some of the links below may now be dead. If so, go to www.archive.org and search the links in their calendar for the time period in question.

Background: 
The Economic Development Corporation (the EDC) is a non-profit corporation charged with creating and executing many of the city's major economic plans. As the EDC is not a department of city government, it is sometimes represented by the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), for example as host of the Piers 7-12 Scoping Meeting on 10/12/06.

The EDC is now re-studying Piers 7-12 after completing a Piers 6-12 Study in 2004.  Their web page for 7-12 includes Powerpoints from prior presentations to Community Board 6, plus new documents. 

Piers 6-12 Study
Recently, the city (represented by the EDC) in conjunction with the Port Authority (PANYNJ), did a study of the piers 6-12 area, often referred to as the Red Hook Containerport, e.g. the piers from just south of Atlantic Avenue (Pier 6) to about Wolcott Street in Red Hook (Pier 12).  The “6-12 Study” was announced in December 2002 and released spring of 2004.  Carolina Salguero and Allison Prete launched a website for CB6 that covered this study.  

The city was not happy with the final study and tried to NOT release the study to the public.  They never made digital copies available to the public. Hardcopies are located at PortSide and the CB6 office.  One result of that study was that Pier 6 was pulled out of the mix and allocated to Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The study catchment area then became piers 7-12.

Cruise Terminal Study
Subsequent to the 6-12 Study, there was a Cruise Terminal study and plan that led to the arrival of cruise ships in Brooklyn.  That process was also covered by www.waterfrontmatters.org.

Piers 7-12 deciphering the alphabet soup
A combination of federal, state and city law and regulation govern the Piers 7-12 planning process. The ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) is mandated by city law at Section 197 of the City Charter. A ULURP action may require the preparation of an EIS (environmental impact statement) if it is determined that the action may have a significant impact. The EIS format is determined by state and city regulations, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR).  As a first step in the development of an EIS, a Scope of Analysis is prepared which suggests an outline of tasks to be performed as part of the EIS. The Scope is released and subject to public review and comment.  (This is what happened on October 12, 2006.)

Piers 7-12 timeline
The EDC has their eye on April 2007, the date that American Stevedoring's lease with the Port Authority expires.  At that time, the EDC expects the Port Authority to hand over control to piers that the Port Authority had leased from the city (and in turn leased to American Stevedoring). The EDC is pushing to do the full ULURP process before April 2007, so that the city can move ahead with redevelopment plans as soon as possible after that date.  The transfer of ownership, and other possible related actions such as potential rezoning, change of uses, etc. would need to be approved before any redevelopment can take place.  American Stevedoring has not given up the fight and has made no noises about moving, and the city has made no noises about finding ASI a home elsewhere. 

In November 2005, Kate Ascher, Executive Vice President, Infrastructure of the EDC, announced that the Atlantic Basin area would be replanned.

April 2006, a public workshop was held to gather ideas.  Summer of 2006, an RFEI (Request for Expressions of Interest) was announced with a deadline of September 1.  The EDC set no date for announcing results of the RFEI and said an RFP (Request for Proposals) could be announced after the RFEI.   Note:  PortSide NewYork submitted a response to the RFEI, requesting waterspace for ship berths and space inland to include a waterfront museum, youth programs, our office space, a bait and tackle shop, cafe and other retail oriented towards local needs. 

Related EDC documents:
Positive Declaration and Scoping Notice (09/2006) (pdf)
Environmental Assessment Statement (09/2006) (pdf)
Draft Scope of Work (09/2006) (pdf)

Prior EDC Presentations:
Community Board 6 Presentation (08/28/2006) (pdf)
Community Board 6 Presentation (06/19/2006) (pdf)
Community Board 6 Presentation (04/03/2006) (pdf)
Public Workshop Comments (04/03/2006) (pdf)
Community Board 6 Presentation (11/28/2005) (pdf)

Comment period is now closed.

Calendar of meetings/hearings:
The CB6 Economic and Waterfront Development Committee (CB6 E/W) usually meets the first Monday of every month.  CB6 E/W is always involved in waterfront issues, though other committees sometimes co-host meetings.  CB6 E/W schedule is changing often in 2006 due to the EDC schedule on piers 7-12 planning. Meetings hosted by CB6 are on their calendar webpage http://www.brooklyncb6.org/calendar. When other parties (EDC, SBS, etc)  run the meeting/hearing, it is listed on the CB6 website page announcements.

12/14/06 City Council Hearing preceded by press conference/demo:
12:00 the Land Use Subcommittee Landmarks, Public Siting, Maritime Uses was joined by the Committee on Waterfront for an oversight hearing "South Brooklyn Working Waterfront."  Courtroom drama tension was brought to a City Council hearing that ran over three hours.  The EDC unfurled plans, never before seen, for the Red Hook and Sunset Park waterfront; council leaders were skeptical even prosecutorial, expert witnesses even more so.  Most media were long gone, having merely stopped by for photo op and sound bytes of the pro-containerport demo on City Hall steps before the hearing, so read the transcript for yourself.  click
       
11/20/06 6:30pm at LICH, Long Island Community Hospital. CB6 Economic/Landmarks/Transportation committees. Continued discussion with the EDC about Piers 7-12, with specific emphasis on the development of the westside of Columbia Street  between Warren and Degraw (known as Parcel M) aka the mirroring or housing parcel on Columbia Street.

10/12/06 at LICH, Long Island Community Hospital. The city, as represented by SBS, hosts a Scoping Session on the proposed scope of the analysis of the DEIS.        

We post all comments that were submitted to the Scope of Analysis of the DEIS. They were being sent to an email address we no longer use, mail (at) portsidenewyork.org.

CB6 comments on Scope of Analysis
Community Consulting Services comments on Scope
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance comments on Scope
Municipal Art Society comments on Scope
Society of Industrial Archeology, Roebling Chapter, comments on Scope

10/12/06 6:30pm at LICH.  The EDC hosts a Scoping Session on the proposed scope of the analysis of the DEIS. Sign in will be required. Speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. There is usually a comment period of 10 days after the Scoping Session when written comments of any length can be submitted.

9/28/06 CB6 hosts a meeting by several committees (Landmarks/Land Use, Economic Development/Waterfront, and Transportation) to get public commentary to inform CB6's statement at the Scoping Hearing as part of the new Study of Piers 7-12.         

9/1/06 Atlantic Basin RFEI responses due.

2/07 Atlantic Basin RFP responses due.

Related EDC news:
From summer to fall 2006, The EDC launched a noteworthy number of major initiatives that pertain to the waterfront and especially the waterfront near Red Hook (Upper Bay and East River).  The dates below are the dates the RFP or the position was announced on their website.  In the planning world, RFP's that run on a short timetable are a way to narrow the field of applicants (few firms can meet the requirements of a complex proposal on a short timeframe) or suggest that a vendor has likely been pre-identified and is prepped to respond.

The EDC has a new website as of 12/20/06.  The new EDC careers page no longer lists the waterfront related positions       below. We have asked them whether the positions were filled or withdrawn. Once we have an answer, we'll update this page.

6/5/07 The EDC has issued a 94 page RFP to find an event manager to solicit, market and coordinateboth commercial and not-for-profit/community events at the Red Hook Cruise terminal when cruise ships are not in. Responses due by July           13, 2007. Download RFP click

No official word on results of the Atlantic Basin RFEI and RFP processes (disclosure: PortSide submitted proposals to both), though local papers have reported that Pier 11 will be made available to Phoenix Beverages.            

7/18/06  The EDC is seeking a Harbor District Director  a new position. The job description says "the Harbor District will become a unique recreational and tourist destination, featuring a range of distinct but linked sites."  Those sites include parts of the Red Hook waterfront and nearby Governor's Island.  January 2008, Paula Berry is appointed the first Harbor District Director.

9/25/06  The EDC is running a speedy RFP about East River Ferry Services (deadline 11/6/06). It's focus is on new ferry services to support "residential and commercial development in emerging waterfront areas in Brooklyn and Queens, provide an additional (and faster) alternative to those who commute to Midtown and Lower Manhattan from East River waterfront neighborhoods that are not well served by existing transit systems, accommodate potential growth in ferry traffic, support the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, provide additional capacity in major commuting “corridors” in which existing transit systems are already seriously overcrowded during peak periods, and increase overall capacity for quickly and flexibly moving people during emergencies." 

9/13/06  EDC seeks a new Director of Cruise Operations

10/6/06  The EDC is running a speedy RFP (deadline 11/3/06) to seek a consultant team for a Harbor District Planning and Market Feasibility Study to “undertake a comprehensive programming, land use and transportation analysis and market feasibility study for the Harbor District.”  This includes Red Hook's Atlantic Basin.