It’s premature to say that a decision has been made to repurpose the ConEd plant along John Street in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill as part of Brooklyn Bridge Park, but an article in the Brooklyn Eagle says that it’s not out of the question. After all, the original plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park was originally planned to stretch only betwee Piers 1 and 5. Pier 6 was added later because the Port Authority owned it. The plans for the park end at Jay Street and John Street. Related to the land near the ConEd plant, last week, politicians decided not to veto a residential building at the John Street plot, but reduced the proposed 17 story building to a 12 stories. DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance’s Doreen Gallo argued the following point in her editorial piece in the Brooklyn Paper.:

“The John Street site should remain public — a great open space to see the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges together on the waterfront. With the power plant closing this year, we should be looking at this site in its entirety up to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and not be thinking about the immediate real estate greed of the present administration.

Any building on the John Street site will eliminate this parcel and future Con Edison waterfront parcels to be considered part of the park and wall off the entrance of the surrounding communities of Vinegar Hill, Farragut and Bridge Plaza.”

A building on John Street could potentially close off the East-West access from Pearl Street towards Gold Street on the waterfront. The Brooklyn Eagle mentions that the ConEd plant in Vinegar Hill will be torn down, which Brownstoner mentioned last year, but for the land to become part of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, several pieces would need to come together for it to happen (environmental surveys, finances, clean up, etc). If the land were repurposed, it would be a nice way to connect the waterfront from the Navy Yards to Pier 6.

If you haven’t checked out Brooklyn Navy Yard, which borders Vinegar Hill, Urban Oyster is bringing us a great chance to explore the Yards by bike. Explore the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s transition from being one of the nation’s foremost naval shipbuilding facilities to becoming a national leader for sustainable urban industrial parks. Learn about the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s sustainable development efforts including the nation’s first multi-story “green” industrial building, first solar and wind-powered street lamps, NYC’s first building-mounted wind turbines, adaptively reused historic structures, and new green buildings certified by the US Green Buildings Council.

First bike tour is on Sunday, April 25, and will occur each month through at least October.

Sunday, April 25, 1:45pm (approx 2 hours)
Sunday, May 23, 1:45pm
Sunday, June 6, 1:45pm

REQUIREMENTS: Each participant must supply his/her own bicycle & bring and wear a safety helmet at all times while on the Brooklyn Navy Yard tour. Need to rent a bike? Check out Ride Brooklyn Bike Shop. Also, check out Recycle-a-Bicyle in Dumbo for used/refurbished bikes.

Admission: $24 per person/ $20 for BHS members & BNYDC tenants and employees. Advance ticket purchase required. Click on the following link to check availability and purchase tickets.

Urban Oyster aims to reveal the hidden treasures of NYC and have fun tours such as the Brewed in Brooklyn Tour and the Food Cart Tour. They also organize the Brooklyn Navy Yard tour bus tours.

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. View BNYDC’s Flickr photos page.

Architectural Photographer John Bartelstone recently published his book, The Brooklyn Navy Yard, and is available at powerHouse Books. His 91 duotone images show the relics of a time when the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a thriving shipyard complex between the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. New York City’s largest and oldest industrial facility, the Brooklyn Navy Yard still repairs great ships, but also has reinvented itself with various manufacturers and businesses, such as furniture makers, movie sets, and new media companies. Mr. Bartelsone’s photographs preserve the abandoned elements of the Navy Yard and they bring us back to the days when shipbuilding was a key industry for World War II.

For more, go to johnbartelstone.com/brooklynnavyyard and powerhousebooks.com.

Please show your support for this student-run market at PS307 (The Dr. Daniel Hale Williams School in the Vinegar Hill). The farm stand which will be a source of fresh, local fruits and vegetables for the community. It is open two more Wednesdays (in October) from 3:30 – 7:30 pm. One of their goals is to increase access to healthy food for the residents of the Farragut houses and surrounding communities. They are hoping to keep this program going for a full growing season, but the market needs more shoppers in order to sustain it. Please pass on the word to your neighbors (pdf flyer)

This project is one piece of a larger program run by Myrtle Avenue Restoration Project (MARP) dedicated to food justice and food access for the communities in the Whitman, Ingersoll and Farragut Houses.

Also read the article NY Times ran on Oct 8.

Location: P.S. 307 playground at 209 York Street, Brooklyn
This initiative is a collaboration between Council on the Environment for New York City, the Myrtle Avenue Restoration Project (MARP) and PS 307.

What: Brooklyn Navy Yard Expansion Briefing
When: Wednesday, December 5 at 6PM
Where: Dumbo Improvement District Office, 111 Front Street, Suite 258

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is in the midst of its largest expansion since WWII with over 1.3 million square feet of new industrial space, new retail and community resources along the perimeter, and 1,500 new jobs coming on line in the next three years.

The expansion includes a major commitment to sustainability measures that will turn the Navy Yard into the greenest industrial park in the nation. Come hear Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation President & CEO Andrew Kimball give an in depth briefing on every aspect of these development plans.

More on Navy Yards:
{Navy Yard to create a full-fledged media ‘campus’ at Steiner, Brookyn Paper}
{The Brooklyn Navy Yard Becoming More Hollywood, Brooklyn Daily Eagle}