Nadler: ‘They don’t have the votes’
Brooklyn Daily Eagle – By Mary Frost | April 7, 2025
RED HOOK —The New York City Economic Development Corp. has postponed — for a few weeks — a vote on a plan outlining the future of the $3.1 billion, 122-plus-acre Brooklyn Marine Terminal Project.
Originally scheduled for April 11, the vote by members of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force will now take place near the end of the month, though an exact date has not been set.
The 28-member Task Force is chaired by Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-Western Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan) with Vice Chairs Councilmember Alexa Avilés and Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Western Brooklyn).
“Task Force leadership requested an extension of the timeline to address concerns raised by members of the task force,” Goldman told the Brooklyn Eagle on Sunday.
The Task Force has “ultimate approval authority” over recommendations in a final Vision Plan, according to NYCEDC.
Members have told the Eagle they need more time to absorb fundamental aspects of the massive development and its relationship to overlapping transportation, maritime, freight and housing priorities. The BMT Project has major implications for the future of New York City’s maritime industry. BMT is the only remaining container port facility on the eastern side of the Hudson River.
According to the Waterfront Alliance, port volumes are expected to grow substantially over the next several decades, while the port is already near capacity. Some critics have said a rushed evaluation process appears to be more centered on real estate development than maritime uses, however.
The BMT site, which runs from Pier 7 at Atlantic Avenue to Pier 12 in Red Hook, is currently home to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at Pier 12, the Red Hook Container Terminal at Pier 10, Piers 7-12, NYC Ferry’s Atlantic Basin stop and private tenants.
NYCEDC has proposed a downsized, 60-acre state-of-the-art port facility, a mixed-use, dense development with thousands of new housing units (up to 35% affordable) and new parkland.
The city plans to finance the modern port infrastructure through the luxury housing, another bone of contention to those asking why the cost of public infrastructure serving the entire region must be borne by the local community.
NYCEDC said, however, the proposal of a 60-acre port is not a downsize — rather, it is 50% of the site size and in line with the footprint the Red Hook Container Terminal has today. NYCEDC also points out that Michael Stamatis, the current operator of the Red Hook Container Terminal, and Frank Agosta, president of Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen’s Association, have come out in support of the proposed vision – specifically citing the 60-acres.
NYCEDC said, however, the proposal of a 60-acre port is not a downsize — rather, it is 50% of the site size and in line with the footprint the Red Hook Container Terminal has now.
NYCEDC also points out that Michael Stamatis, the current operator of the Red Hook Container Terminal, and Frank Agosta, president of Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen’s Association, have come out in support of the proposed vision – specifically citing the 60-acres.
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“The reason the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force hasn’t voted yet … is because they don’t have the votes. And hopefully they don’t get them,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-12-Central Manhattan, Upper West Side) told a crowd of residents and officials at a rally in Red Hook on Thursday.
The rally was organized by Voices of the Waterfront, a coalition of community members and organizations who say NYCEDC is fast-tracking the project to the detriment of the port.
Nadler, a member of the House Transportation Committee who fought to preserve the Red Hook Container Port for decades, said Brooklyn’s only deepwater port should not be downsized.
“It is of critical importance to New York City and the entire region that this port remains open and not be converted or needlessly carved up for housing or other uses.” Instead, the port should be modernized and expanded to encompass the entire Brooklyn Marine Terminal, he said.
Keeping the BMT intact has security implications because all the other container ports — Newark, Elizabeth and Howland Hook — lie on Newark Bay, on the other side of the narrow and treacherous Kill Van Kull, Nadler said. In the event that a large ship were to sink or be sunk — intentionally or unintentionally — in the Kill Van Kull, “Most of our port would be closed for weeks, or even months, and with it, much of the region’s import supply chain.”
The city should make port improvements first, “without linking them to market rate housing,” and any housing decisions can be made later through the regular ULURP process “with the community participation that comes with that process,” Nadler said.
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Other elected officials speaking included Councilmember Alexa Aviles (D-38), Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes (D-51), Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-39), along with members of the community.
“Since day one, building a modern, world-class all-electric maritime port has been the north star of the transformation of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal,” EDC said in a statement. “We heard directly from the community and stakeholders throughout this process about the importance and need for a modern and sustainable port with micro-mobility and industrial flex space. We believe this plan does just that while also delivering much needed permanently affordable housing, thousands of new jobs, public open space, and massive new community investments.
“After decades of disinvestment and neglect the port is falling deeper and deeper into disrepair. This is a generational moment opportunity to deliver a project that will benefit generations of New Yorkers. Over the coming weeks NYCECDC looks forward to working with members of the task force to delivering a historic vision plan.”
