Nov 24, 2012 at 11:03 AM
An article on Josh Rechnitz
Brooklyn Bridge Park Velodrome
Jan 10, 2013 at 02:21 PM
So it looks like the project is dead. I guess $40M just doesn't go as far as it used to.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
Jan 10, 2013 at 03:25 PM
I suppose the opponents will be very happy with the planned alternative:
" . . . the site, now occupied by a one-story concrete warehouse, had been planned as a garage for park-maintenance equipment, as a storage area for recreational boats and as restrooms. Officials were looking to return to that plan . . ."
" . . . the site, now occupied by a one-story concrete warehouse, had been planned as a garage for park-maintenance equipment, as a storage area for recreational boats and as restrooms. Officials were looking to return to that plan . . ."
Jan 10, 2013 at 03:39 PM
it is a *lovely* warehouse. Though in the usual NYTimes fashion of not actually checking their critical facts, it is a brick warehouse. Typical Librul Bias.
Jan 10, 2013 at 05:37 PM
it's actually not much of a warehouse, though it is brick. the organization i used to work for (the brooklyn bridge park conservancy) has (or had) its main offices there - as did habitat for humanity. it's a shit hole of a building.
the park designers have done their best to keep capital costs down by re-using existing structures that are still viable. so, for example, instead of building new facilities for indoor/outdoor sports like basketball and handball, they plan to re-use the big aluminum sheds, removing the walls and keeping the roofs and support structures so people can still use courts on rainy days.
clearly, the velodrome would have been preferable to the warehouse...but without the velodrome, they'll probably revert to the original plan for the building. they DO need a place to store park maintenance equipment.
Jan 10, 2013 at 06:28 PM
wouldn't want a "niche sport" like cycling getting any room in such a small park. After all, only 200,000 New Yorkers ride daily. There must be millions who play beach volleyball every day. And even more who golf and ride horses.
I have been partial to the idea of placing the velodrome in the Kingsbridge Armory. Beautiful building, literally next door to a subway stop, in a borough that seems to be lacking for cycling facilities. I rode with Rechnitz a bit last summer and he didn't think it could happen because of the landmark designation or something to do with the history of the place.
Jan 10, 2013 at 06:40 PM
I work just a few blocks away from that building, and trust me that it's a dump. It's a shame that the velodrome didn't replace it. Much money is going to be spent just to make the existing building useable as a garage - it's pretty fucked. That park has made great strides in the past few years. A renovated pier with nu turf and 'half court' soccer fields just opened up the other week. This park is increasingly going to become a destination for many. Too bad it won't be for cyclists, especially in the winter when nobody seems to be using it.
Jan 10, 2013 at 07:14 PM
yes, the velodrome would have been preferable. nobody disagrees about that. NIMBY-ism sucks. this reason they are giving is spin - the old money blue hairs in brooklyn heights killed this, for certain.
the building is a dump. but it's pretty perfect for a garage. whether they reuse that, or build something new, money will be spent one way or another. it's a park, and parks need maintenance, and that requires a shed to store equipment. if you don't maintain the park, the park itself will become an abandoned dump that nobody uses.
Jan 10, 2013 at 08:58 PM
@dstearns, I don't think it's the building that you worked in. 360 Furman is actually pretty nice compared to where I'm thinking. I thought it was going to be this one - https://maps.google.com/maps?q=360+Furman+Street,+Brooklyn,+NY&hl=en&ll=40.695501,-73.998477&spn=0.006662,0.013937&sll=40.693346,-73.999584&layer=c&cbp=13,285.72,,0,3.69&cbll=40.695399,-73.99853&hnear=360+Furman+St,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11201&t=m&z=17&panoid=D-IkFE8tTZhst1p8jeJ2fQ
"Ms. Myer said that before Mr. Rechnitz’s gift, the site, now occupied by a one-story concrete warehouse, had been planned as a garage for park-maintenance equipment, as a storage area for recreational boats and as restrooms. Officials were looking to return to that plan, she said."
"Ms. Myer said that before Mr. Rechnitz’s gift, the site, now occupied by a one-story concrete warehouse, had been planned as a garage for park-maintenance equipment, as a storage area for recreational boats and as restrooms. Officials were looking to return to that plan, she said."
Jan 12, 2013 at 03:49 AM
@vlad - gotcha. Yeah, that's in worse shape.