40 Quay Street is publicly-owned land fronting onto Bushwick Inlet and Bushwick Inlet Park, a 27-acre city park that is currently under development. The property has been used by the MTA for many years as a storage facility for mobile wash trucks. This past summer, the MTA released an RFP seeking proposals to redevelop the site for residential use. The MTA seeks to build another waterfront high-rise to add money to replenish their coffers.
Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park put forth several arguments as to why this land should become part of the long fought for Bushwick Inlet Park. One such line of reasoning is: 40 Quay Street sits on landfill in a flood zone; as parkland, this property could be a visionary part of a robust, sustainable and resilient Brooklyn waterfront. A new development on the site would only exacerbate flooding for future generations.
Steve Chesler, co-chair of Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, states: “40 Quay Street should be a resilient addition to the North Brooklyn waterfront, supplementing existing State and City parks. Selling off this piece of public land to the highest bidder is irresponsible and short-sighted. This RFP should be withdrawn and the MTA and Governor Cuomo should rethink their priorities for the Greenpoint waterfront.”
You can take action against this proposal in several ways by visiting: https://bushwickinletpark.org/articles/mta-site/
The Greenline 