In June 1994 the neighborhood and the community board released its 197a plan, a document submitted to the city pointing the way for waterfront revival. According to the 197a, in 1972 the city approved an urban renewal plan to develop 230 acres of waterfront for a modern container port, waterfront park and 225 units of housing for those who would be displaced by the container port. The proposal, according to the plan, “put a cloud of condemnation over many residential blocks which were eventually not taken due to changes in the internal container port design. This led to further decline and abandonment of housing.” |
| The city the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has a troubled history in Red Hook. Acording to one local tour guide, “The Port Authority has divested itself of several hundred acres with little or no long-term planning,” Gov. Mario Cuomo’s campaign literature in 1994 advertised the neighborhood’s Fish Port as a $27 million investment in the neighborhood that created 700 jobs. What the ad forgot to mention, was that the Fish Port had closed well before the literature was distributed, just six months after it opened. He and others have estimated it cost $42 million to build including leasing fees and other expenses. In 1993 the Port Authority sold the property for $2 million to Erie Marine Associates. They then rented a portion of the property to the City who redeveloped the waterfront into an evidence impound lot. “The most stunning views on the Harbor are commanded by broken-down cars,” At Bay and Columbia streets a cheerful green-and-white Fish Port logo still points the way home. To their credit, the police department, as part of the sale agreements, built the Columbia Street Pier, a public esplanade that extends out into Gowanus Bay. The agency also agreed to pay $50,000 toward the annual maintenance of the Firefighter Louis Valentino Pier and Park at the end of Coffey Street. |
