Greenpoint Residents Dispute Over Monitor Point

Residents packed and rallied at the Polish Slavic Center on the evening of January 20 to weigh in on a proposed large housing development at Bushwick Inlet. The Monitor Point development, located along the waterfront in Greenpoint, consists of residential buildings, with ground floor commercial, space for the Greenpoint Monitor Museum and links to access the parkland making the inlet more accessible.

On one side of the room, dozens gather and raise their voices—they demand deeply affordable and accessible housing, holding signs in clear support.

On the other side of the room, among the people advocating for affordable housing are also individuals living in that neighborhood, who voice the consequences that would result if the proposal were sustained. Prolonged construction, the loss of land that serves as a flood shield, and the detrimental consequences to birds that use the land for migration are what many activists from Save the Inlet are saying, as they made their presence felt during Tuesday night’s meeting. They are currently rallying for environmental protection and calling on the local government and developers to protect the birds threatened by the project, citing its detrimental implications.

The meeting reveals a clear divide: one side advocates for deep, accessible, affordable housing in a community which has experienced escalating land and rental prices.  While the other focuses on environmental protection and skepticism of developers’ promises. One side is demanding action to address the displacement of low income residents The other is willing to prevent this project from moving ahead and wait until their vision of a large park on both sides of Bushwick Inlet is a reality

Developer Gotham, responded to an RFP by the MTA to relocate their facility. It would hold a 99-year lease on the MTA-owned property and build a new project after the facility was relocated. Bryan Kelly, president of Gotham, says 40% of the new apartments will be permanently affordable. He notes dense waterfront buildings along Long Island City. “We are not setting a precedent,” he says. “But the added density benefits the public good by providing affordability.”

The long-term goal of Monitor Point is to implement affordable housing, public open space, community facilities and prominent waterfront infrastructure. The project development is required to move the existing MTA facility to a more appropriate industrial zone. Gotham stated this cost was over $100 million “which will not occur without the mixed income project covering the cost.”

A Greenpoint resident since 1990, Andy says the project is not just about rezoning but about who becomes wealthy off public land when they apply extra height to city-owned waterfront. “The city is handing a private developer the right to generate two to $3B in equity concerns,” he argues, “even under conservative assumptions.”

NYC City Council Member Lincoln Restler joined the meeting to voice his own concerns against Gotham’s proposals. His reasoning is that the housing market rate is an influx of luxury housing, something that the community simply cannot afford. “The idea that we would build predominantly luxury housing on this site, I have to say, I find it offensive.”

A union member, Theo Perez, representing SEIU Local, stood alongside several other union members to uphold their endorsements for the project. Perez shows his gratitude for the project and its developers, who consistently commit to the good jobs they produce. “Good jobs mean prevailing wages, they mean benefits, and they mean a pathway to the middle class for the people who work from beyond that.” He explains that New Yorkers in the working class have been vulnerable to skyrocketing wages and rent prices.

Ralph Perez, program manager of The Wick Against Violence, stated, “my family lived in Greenpoint for years, but were pushed out to East New York because they couldn’t afford the rents. This project is a chance for people like them to live here.”

A supporter of the project, Luz Rosero, of United Neighbors Organization, a grassroots organization of low-income residents, explained her support for Monitor Point. “I’ve seen friends and family forced out of the community. This project provides apartments that low-income people can afford.” She continued, “We all want more open space, but we must be honest: without safe and stable affordable housing, families like ours will no longer be able to afford to live in this neighborhood. So the question becomes: parks for who? For wealthy newcomers and homeowners—or for long‑time community members like us?”

Community Board #1 will have a committee meeting and a final board vote in February. Then the project will be reviewed by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso before it moves to the NYC Planning Commission and then the NYC Council for assessment. If the project progresses, a completion date can be as late as 2031.