Bushwick Inlet Park Complete With $160M Deal, Says Mayor

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The city has finally closed on its $160 million deal to buy an 11-acre chunk of land for the long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday.

“We are one step closer to realizing the vision of the completed Bushwick Inlet Park North Brooklyn deserves,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “Today’s acquisition is proof positive that we keep our promises.”

Brooklynites have been waiting for the proposed 28-acre East River waterfront park to be completed since the region was rezoned in 2005 under former mayor Michael Bloomberg.

But developer Norman Brodsky — the owner of the CitiStorage site — held onto his 11-acre lot between North 10th and North 11th streets until the city could give him a better price than the $100 million they offered in June.

We just officially closed on the last parcel for Bushwick Inlet Park. We keep our promises to New Yorkers. #HeresOurPark pic.twitter.com/cw1UnYlGRA
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 19, 2017

Negotiations between the city and the developer continued into the fall, and in November Brodsky accepted the $160 million deal in a verbal agreement.

The city will now begin a series of environmental tests at the CitiStorage site — one of five parcels the city has bought to incorporate into Bushwick Inlet Park — to determine how long it will take to renovate and develop the land, according to an official statement.

One 3.5 acre parcel of park is open to the public on North 9th Street and features a sports field, a playground and a waterfront walkway.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons.