The Dock Street building, if built, will block the views of and from the Brooklyn Bridge. It will permanently diminish and detract from the grandeur of the Bridge and compromise views from the walkway.
The project is too tall. The highest portion of the proposed development is projected to be 212 feet high (187 feet plus 25 feet for mechanicals). No one would ever consider such a project next to other internationally known landmarks like the Washington Monument or the Eiffel Tower.
The project is out of scale with its surroundings. The site is in a transition area and abuts two historic districts, Fulton Ferry Landing and DUMBO; most of the buildings surrounding it and leading to it are primarily low-rise 19th century rowhouses and warehouses which create a “bowl” around the Brooklyn Bridge. They increase in density and height gradually to the north and rise to the higher Gair buildings towards the Manhattan Bridge. The Dock Street building would create a wall, interrupting this transition.
We strongly believe that no building higher than the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge should be permitted on Dock Street. The site should be zoned as R7B, no higher than 75 feet.
The building, with 323 apartments, a proposed school for 300, and a parking garage for over 450, will dramatically increase congestion and traffic on Dock, Water, and Main Streets and the feeder streets.
Bundling the school in with the rezoning request forces a “false choice” between preserving the bridge and getting a new school. There are other locations better suited to a school.
We are concerned by the lack of transparency and any relevant details on the selection or financial criteria of the School Construction Authority. Along with accountability, the SCA has failed to include the community in the process. Our children–and our community–deserve better.
David McCullough (author of The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge), The National Trust, The Historic Districts Council, The Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Council Members David Yassky, Tony Avella, and Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Heights Association, DUMBO Neighborhood Association, Fulton Ferry Landing Association, Cobble Hill Association, Vinegar Hill Association , Boerum Hill Association are all in opposition to the Dock Street Development.
