Brooklyn Marine Terminal plan: Statement from members of Transportation, Mobility and Open Space Advisory Group (2025)

EDITORS’ NOTE: This open letter represents the views of one of several committees that have input into the fate of a sweeping waterfront area running from Pier 7, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue south to Red Hook. We share this open letter for the edification of our readers.

Dear Representative Goldman, Councilmember Aviles and Senator Gounardes and Members of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force,

As members of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Transportation, Mobility and Open Space Advisory Group, we the undersigned have contributed our time to this effort because we care passionately about the impact of a revitalized Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the 122-acre Brooklyn waterfront site that stretches from Red Hook to Columbia Waterfront District. Collectively we have spent many decades working to improve the environment, mobility, safety and quality of life in the vibrant communities surrounding BMT. We carry on the legacy of thousands of community members, and we urge you to consider our recommendations seriously. We ask that any plan for the BMT elevate all considerations and impacts on surrounding communities, and our recommendations place BMT within that larger context. We cannot support any plan that does not address our community’s severe automobile and truck congestion, dire lack of mass transit, open space inequities, and flooding vulnerabilities, and we urge you to prioritize those needs. Below are our detailed recommendations and considerations, and we look forward to discussing them further with you.

On Transportation & Mobility

We understand that the remit of the Task Force is to plan for the 122 acre BMT site only; however, it is impossible to isolate the impacts of the site’s development to the boundaries of the site only. We therefore support the demands made in the statement issued by the Cobble Hill Association on March 25, 2025 that the BMT redevelopment plan “must include a comprehensive and concurrently implemented transportation plan addressing existing traffic congestion and future traffic impacts of new development.” Such a plan would, among other things, “expand transportation planning beyond the BMT site and its adjacent streets and integrate the BMT into broader BQE redevelopment.”

The Task Force must only approve a site plan which allows for a minimal reliance on cars and trucks as a means for travelling to/from and within the site, and mitigate the existing traffic impacts of the port and cruise terminal, along with impacts from any new housing or other uses. The Brooklyn Marine Terminal site is currently served by one bus route and the nearest subway stations are 20-minute walks in adjacent neighborhoods. Therefore a significant investment in additional public and active transit and mobility options is required.

1. Connecting and protecting bicycle & greenway infrastructure in and adjacent to BMT

Bicycle infrastructure in BMT & Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway

• Increase capacity of Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway that currently runs along the perimeter of the BMT. This includes increasing the lane width to accommodate recreational users and commuters. The greenway has taken years to construct and is vital infrastructure for transportation and recreation, and we do not want to diminish users’ experience and perception of safety by not increasing its size to meet current and future demands.
• Design BMT to accommodate commercial traffic generated by port activities (cargo bikes, etc.) so recreational users are not crowded off the greenway. The greenway should be welcoming to people of all ages and abilities.
• Design all BMT entrances, street intersections, and greenway crossings to emphasize safety and visibility for pedestrians, runners, and cyclists.
• Increase green buffer for attractiveness, ecosystem services (including stormwater capture and trees to reduce urban heat island effect), and safety.
• Weather-protected, secure bike/micromobility parking within all residences, with charging stations.
• Abundant public, secure bike parking like Oonee Pods and bike corrals for those visiting the area, especially – but not limited to – near entrances to new parks. The City of New York and the Port Authority have a precedent of citing these pods on public land.

Bicycle infrastructure adjacent to BMT

To reduce car dependency and support sustainable ways for getting around, cyclists and pedestrians need dedicated and protected infrastructure to reach the BMT and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Many of the recommendations below are made in this petition and are already urgent and must not become hostage to the BMT process. In other words, the BMT redevelopment must not be used as justification to delay addressing these needs.

• Eastbound and Westbound protected bike lanes connecting BMT site to Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill/Gowanus, Park Slope, and Sunset Park on east-west street pairs such as Bergen Street/Dean Street, Union Street/Sackett Street, 2nd Street/3rd Street and improvements on the 9th Street protected bike lane.
• Northbound and Southbound protected bike lane pairs on Clinton Street/Henry Street and safety improvements and road diets on Court Street and Smith Streets. ● Connect the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway and Brooklyn Bridge Park to downtown Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge with protected bike lanes.
• Create the first protected connections between the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway and Historic Brooklyn Greenway. EDC’s plan to move the Greenway west to the water, while a more appealing experience for recreational riders, disconnects the Greenway from heavily used cycle cross-borough commuting routes and toward the bridges.
• Commit to an effective network of protected bike lanes in Red Hook with DOT’s Red Hook Traffic & Truck Study project, which has been in the study phase for years.

2. Expanding and Improving Bus Service or Shuttle Options

Ensures active transit is a viable option, lessening the impact on pollution and traffic as new neighbors come to the area through this project.

• We welcome the BMT Vision Plan’s inclusion of a new bus route to Lower Manhattan through the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, a service that members of this advisory group and Red Hook residents have been demanding (campaign, petition). For this purpose, the existing M9 and M22, the defunct B71 and the proposed B27 are options to consider.
• An extension of the M9 service is of particular interest for Red Hook as a connection to Manhattan, given its limited headway, high connectivity to subway lines and the direct access it would provide to health centers in the Lower East Side.
• Shuttle bus options for both a subway (F/G) loop and a Manhattan loop should be considered ahead of, or as alternatives to, Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign outputs. The BMT Vision Plan should include clear funding models for these shuttles to run in perpetuity.
• Provide an East-West bus route along Union Street in the form of the B71 bus, which should be reinstated and improved.
• Make the B61 bus line more reliable via dedicated bus lanes as well as automated bus lane and bus stop enforcement. Additionally, we would like to review EDC’s data indicating that doubling B61 service will be sufficient to provide timely and efficient service to the community.
• As stated in a recent Riders Alliance statement, “Red Hook subway riders need improved pedestrian access to the nearest station at Smith/9th Streets. No one should have to fear for their lives crossing Hamilton Avenue. NYS DOT and NYC DOT must improve conditions, particularly at the intersection with Clinton Street, which is heavily used for subway access. The entire corridor should be redesigned for neighborhood access and safety rather than as a service road for an interstate highway.”
• The transit improvements outlined in this section should be prioritized today or incorporated as part of the phase one build out.

3. Increasing Ferry Service

• It is important to see increased frequency of service and increased destinations for the East River ferry service to and from the BMT. This includes expanding access to Governors Island.

4. Reducing Dependency on Cars

• There should be no parking minimums for any BMT housing developed. BMT must emphasize public transit, micro-mobility and walkability.

5. Reducing Dependency on Trucks

• Provide a detailed plan to reduce truck dependency at the site, do not build a truck route through the BMT site to accommodate existing truck traffic and invite more of it.

6. Delivering on Water-based Freight Distribution

• Provide concrete plans for rationalizing and consolidating maritime services to local & Interstate Cross harbor maritime traffic, such as those widely used elsewhere (i.e. in Europe).
• The BMT Vision Plan should embrace the long term perspective of shifting the movement of goods from polluting trucks on the streets, highways and bridges to electrified tugs/barges and delivery vessels.
• If done well, this redevelopment will improve mobility through all of New York City by removing thousands of polluting trucks and vehicles off the road, through the creation of a comprehensive maritime distribution network.
• A sorting facility with all electrified equipment at BMT can act as a hub for receiving goods via water in 40/20 foot containers, breaking them down into smaller standardized containers, and shipping them again via water through distribution points based on zip codes in the five boroughs, where cargo bicycles and electrified vehicles can distribute them to their final destination.
• As this water-based distribution network (Blue Highway) takes shape, the BMT redevelopment itself offers a great opportunity to rely on water distribution for the movement of various types of materials for its upgrades and construction.
• BMT can also be a catalyst for other products (possibly made on the BMT site in light manufacturing facilities) to be delivered via this water network such as refrigerated goods, baked goods and supermarket deliveries.

7. Consider creating a multi-modal transit hub in Atlantic Basin.

• The limited capacity of Red Hook’s current or revised street grid will continue to be a constraint for supporting the inefficient movement of goods and people through individual motorized street vehicles. Delimited by water on the North, South and West, and by the elevated BQE and Hugh Carey tunnel on the East, solving congestion in the peninsula will require a uniquely thoughtful approach to advancing multimodal mobility alternatives.
• In tandem with a redesigned truck route, a transit hub at Atlantic Basin can help integrate a slate of evolving Ferry, Bus, Shuttle, Bike and Pedestrian options, and as a result, alleviate the current (cruise terminal, e-commerce trucking, BQE detours) intermittent gridlock condition.

8. Integrate BMT planning and BQE redevelopment

We have not seen sufficient evidence that planning for the long-term transformation of the BQE and the planning for the BMT site are being coordinated in substantive ways.

Groups such as the Brooklyn Queens Expressway-Environmental Justice Coalition, members of which are part of various BMT Advisory Groups are calling for the development of a holistic, corridor-wide and sustainable re-imagining of the BQE. This effort is in line with similar recommendations made in the BQE Expert Panel Report and the New York City Council’s Future of the BQE report. Development at the BMT site should not assume that the BQE will remain in its existing state in perpetuity and should not facilitate access to and from the BQE for trucks and vehicles at the moment at which our city is seeking to reduce truck-dependence and vehicle miles traveled.

For example, numerous community groups including the Cobble Hill Association, the Atlantic Avenue BID, and the Brooklyn Heights Association have been calling for closing or dramatically reconfiguring the BQE on and off ramps Atlantic Avenue as a means to improve unsafe conditions, dramatically improve visitor access to Brooklyn Bridge Park, and reduce cut-through traffic in surrounding neighborhoods. Closing these BQE on and off ramps would also facilitate the integration of upper and lower Van Voorhees Parks and allow for a safe, beautiful, and welcoming entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the proposed green space at Pier 7.

On Open Space

The initial engagement study conducted by EDC demonstrated overwhelming community enthusiasm for increased park space, recreational amenities, and waterfront access. Parks and open space emerged as a top priority, consistently highlighted by workshop attendees. Additionally, an overwhelming 93% of survey respondents expressed a desire for more public green space, reinforcing the community’s strong preference for expanded open space.

While we appreciate the inclusion of green space in the redevelopment plans, we strongly urge EDC to prioritize and expand parkland within the project. In particular, we see a significant opportunity to enhance open space at the north end of the park near the Pier 7 uplands, and at the south end where the proposed Fort Defiance Park could be developed. We support the creation of more substantial public parkland.

Furthermore, while we acknowledge the incorporation of greened streets within the site, we believe these efforts must go further. The plan should include larger, more integrated park spaces that support recreation, public enjoyment, and a more clearly defined connection to the waterfront.

In addition to expanding new parkland, we strongly encourage EDC to invest in the improvement and maintenance of existing parks, including Van Voorhees Park and other surrounding green spaces. We also recommend prioritizing the development of the Columbia Street Waterfront Park (from Kane Street to Degraw Street), which has already been planned and partially funded, to ensure it becomes a fully realized public amenity.

We urge EDC to take these recommendations into serious consideration to ensure that open space remains a central and defining feature of the redevelopment. The community has made its priorities clear—now is the time to deliver on them.

• Create green space around transit hubs and create connections to the waterfront through the BMT.
• Invest in improving and maintaining current parks (Van Vorhees and others) on the perimeter of the BMT.
• Invest in Columbia Street Waterfront Park on the perimeter of BMT (Kane Street to Degraw Street) that has been planned and partially funded.
• Increase allocation of open space in BMT South, with attention to key elements of the Fort Defiance proposal South-West of Wolcott Street. In particular:

○ Expand land preservation for public access and cultural activation on the footprint where the revolutionary fort’s oldest known battery once stood. Pending further programing considerations, this would allow for a potential reconstruction of the revolutionary fort as a year-round cultural destination of historical significance.

○ Explore potential synergies between the topographical reconstruction of the North-West prong of Cypress Tree Island and compatible development.

Rebuilding the 50-foot “sponge mountain” where Fort Defiance once stood can support external open space and compatible interior uses, such as resiliency infrastructure, light manufacturing, cultural, civic, commercial and hospitality applications.

We strongly encourage you to use this once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve our community and not lock in poor planning decisions from the past. We urge you to incorporate our recommendations into the BMT Vision Plan.

Signed by members of the Transportation, Mobility and Open Space Advisory Group for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal planning process

Hunter Armstrong, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

Kathy Park Price, Transportation Alternatives

Nancy Webster, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

Matías Kalwill, Red Hook Bus Coalition

Lara Birnback, Brooklyn Heights Association

(list in progress)