This update covers the aspects of the BMT proposal discussed by the Task Force and community over the last month (hence the length). Going forward, we’ll endeavor to put out shorter more frequent updates.
The CHA BMT Update: April 18, 2025 addressed the current Housing & Open Space and Resiliency proposals. While there has been no change to these proposals since that date, the discussions on these topics within the Task Force are ongoing. In the interest of transparency, here are the topics specifically being discussed by the Task Force with respect to BMT North (Columbia Street between Degraw and Atlantic).
Housing in BMT North
- Reducing or redistributing density in BMT North (potentially shifting to Pier 7 uplands).
- Increasing the percentage of affordable units above 35%
- Ensuring all open spaces are publicly accessible
- Ongoing financing/maintenance of open space (i.e., will the responsibility fall to the city, the development corporation overseeing the site, or the developers)
New material: Since our April 18th update, the Task Force has reviewed proposals on Transportation, Blue Highway, and Workforce Development. The related sections below include the full presentation decks (click the arrows to scroll through the slides), followed by lists of outstanding issues raised by Task Force members and the public during the meetings and workshops.
The Cobble Hill Association remains committed to advancing a plan that delivers a comprehensive transportation strategy that addresses congestion not only on streets directly adjacent to the site, but also on affected neighborhood streets like Hicks Street and Clinton Street. We’re also calling for a more transparent, proven Blue Highway strategy—one that keeps truck traffic off local streets, protects nearby residents from environmental impacts, and shows real viability before port land is repurposed. Because job creation relies heavily on the Blue Highway’s success, its feasibility is critical.
Transportation
Summary
Public Transit: B61 bus upgrades, New bus routes (B81, B63, B57) and connections (including to Manhattan),
Project-funded shuttle service to subways.
Ferry service enhancements
Greenway expansion, pedestrian-first streets, improved bike infrastructure.
Truck rerouting to Hamilton Ave/BQE to reduce traffic on Columbia, Van Brunt, Degraw.
No parking minimums—district-wide garages only.
Issues Raised by Task Force & Community
BQE Coordination: Difficult because BMT and BQE plans are on different timelines, which makes it harder to solve major traffic and transit challenges holistically.
Forced Turns & Bus Priority: Unclear if forced right turns on Van Brunt/Columbia will work due to narrow streets, limited rerouting options, and weak enforcement.
Truck Traffic & Freight: Concerns that Blue Highway won’t scale fast enough to meaningfully reduce trucks; calls for better delivery management (e.g., timed drop-offs, building design).
Ferry & Shuttle Service: Support for expansion, but concerns about permanence and affordability.
Street Network Expansion & “Induced Demand”: Concern about whether new connections like Van Brunt or Conover extensions into the site will unintentionally increase traffic in the area.
Environmental Review & Traffic Modeling: Traffic will be pushed to Hicks and Clinton Streets without mitigation, so traffic modeling must include impacts to these streets, not just those directly adjacent to the site.
Pedestrian Safety: With increased traffic from the development and no changes to the BQE, there’s concern that the adjacent on/off ramps will pose greater risks to pedestrians.
Blue Highway
Proposal Summary
The Blue Highway is a maritime freight initiative designed to reduce truck traffic, congestion, emissions, and roadway damage by moving goods (like food, bulk materials, and packages) via barges and ferries along NYC’s waterways.
Current EDC Commitments: Activating Downtown Skyport as a Blue Highway landing and transforming the prison barge at Hunt’s Point into a loading and unloading port for containers barged from BMT
Future Commitments to building out additional nodes in Manhattan and Sunset Park, as well as studying and piloting the use of the NYC Ferry to ship and receive goods.
Electrify terminals and incentivize barge use
Reserve affordable space for industrial businesses
Issues Raised by Task Force and Community
Feasibility: Will enough infrastructure be built out and will there be enough private company buy-in for the Blue Highway to actually have the intended benefits?
Impact Scale: One barge removes ~400 trucks, but this is a small portion of NYC’s 12k–25k daily truck trips.
Local Impact: Even if the Blue Highway removes trucks from the street citywide, the Blue Highway and industrial uses in BMT will add truck traffic to/from the site. How to keep those trucks off local roads remains an ongoing discussion.
Land Use: Concern that land is being prematurely given to housing before Blue Highway viability is proven.
Environmental impacts: Concerns about tugboat noise, emissions, delivery hours, ripening facilities and aggregate processing near homes.
Ripening Facilities and Community Impact: Pushback against siting new industrial facilities without robust public health protections.
Outstanding Questions include terminal readiness between Blue Highway sites, cargo handling logistics, supply chain shifts, and cost competitiveness.
Workforce Development
Proposal Summary
Economic Impact & Job Creation: BMT redevelopment expected to generate over $21B in economic impact.
Job creation: Includes: 39,000 temporary construction jobs, 2,400 permanent operational jobs, 295 maritime industrial jobs, 200 cruise sector jobs.
Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to be established requiring, among other things, 30% of hours completed by “Community Hires” (which NYCHA residents qualify for). :
Learning Center: Establish a world-class experiential learning center at Pier 11 (15,000 SF reserved)
Community Hiring applied to BMT tenants
Local Focus: Includes a maritime career readiness & scholarship program for NYCHA Red Hook youth, a Red Hook Economic Mobility Network with $1.4M investment, and a flagger certification program and use the cruise terminal for job fairs.
Issues raised by Task Force and Community
Community Hiring Implementation: Still a relatively new program and there is concern whether the “residence-based” requirement will include NYCHA residents who are not on the lease due to past convictions.
Infrastructure & Site Use Tension: Question about whether the plan leaves enough flexibility and space for future Blue Highway or maritime industrial expansion, which would be needed to support job growth.
Job Scaling and Cost Effectiveness:Repeated concern about whether the Blue Highway will scale fast enough to support the volume needed to sustain meaningful jobs.
Operational Details Unclear: Some questioned whether the logistics of job creation (such as barge frequency, loading systems, cargo types) were worked out well enough to ensure these jobs will materialize as planned.
Portside: Community members at the public workshops raised the question of whether the site plan can include a commitment to include local non-profit Portside as part of the workforce development plan.