By Matt Chaban 10/30/12 4:19pm

Frankenstorm

Wavy gravy, baby. (Wikimedia Commons)

Dan Doctoroff Still Wants Waterfront Development—So Long As ‘Fools’ Evacuate Next Time

We already know Mayor Bloomberg favors waterfront development, come hell or high water—literally—and so, too, does his former development czar Dan Doctoroff, now head of Bloomberg LP.

It was Mr. Doctoroff, in his capacity as deputy mayor for economic development, who thought up many of the schemes that have led to new apartment towers on the waterfront in Williamsburg and Hunters Point. Thousands of units have been built, tens of thousands have been planned. Mr. Doctoroff still believes that is a good idea, so long as appropriate measures are taken.

“I am obviously a believer in waterfront development,” Mr. Doctoroff said Read More

By Kit Dillon 9/25/12 5:36pm

on the waterfront

16 Photos

Hunts Point Landing Now Open

EDC and Congressman Serrano Open Hunts Point Landing Park, Go Kayaking

Much has been made of the transformation of the city’s waterfront, but it is usually tonier precincts like Manhattan and bourgey Brooklyn getting all the attention. Meanwhile, the Bronx waterfront has undergone a quieter transformation that has still managed to maintain its industrial character while introducing greenspace and recreation to the area.

Yesterday, the latest piece of this aquatic puzzle opened, a fun-looking 1.5-acre park in the Hunt’s Point section of the borough.  It includes a new fishing pier, a kayak launch, and a restored shoreline with tidal pools that, according to the city’s Economic Development Corporation, will naturally absorb storm water runoff.  The park is liberally sprinkled with large granite slabs of city history, remnants of the deconstructed Willis Avenue Bridge, which make up much of the comfortable looking boulder seating area and grass retaining wall. Read More

By Matt Chaban 3/06/12 1:17pm

on the waterfront

9 Photos

Starwood Capital/Alloy Development/Bernheimer Architecture/nArchitects

Vacancies at Brooklyn Bridge Park: Hotel Requirement Sinks Developers

Brooklyn Bridge Park has transformed the borough’s waterfront, replacing derelict warehouses with yuppie-packed lawns and playgrounds. The project would not be possible without the controversial private development surrounding it, a handful of apartment buildings, retail outlets, even a hotel. After all, who wouldn’t want to spend the night in New York overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge?

The developers vying for the right to develop Pier 1, that’s who. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/08/11 1:57pm

on the waterfront

That ought to do it. (Mayor's Office)

With Condos Flooding Waterfront, City Short on Hurricane Protections

With Hurricane Irene still affecting New York—clean-up continues, the sun is only now shining, the Hudson runs red with upstate clay—the city is making preparations and procedural changes to prepare for the next disaster. Yet with evacuations being one of the biggest effects of the storm, so far no action has been taken to address neighborhoods in low-lying areas, the now-well-known Zone As of the city. Read More