Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday a major plan to expand Brooklyn Bridge Park along the waterfront at 1 John Street in DUMBO by an extra 1.5 acres by 2015. The space will include a .3 acre lawn, a tidal salt marsh with bridge, tree-lined pathways, and…condos. Included in the plan is a deal with Alloy Development and Monadnock Development who will build a 47-unit residential building on the site with “cultural and retail” space on the ground floor.
That cultural space will include a new annex of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. The mayor says this will make John Street “on par with Sesame Street for the borough’s toddler and preteen set.” We don’t recall Sesame Street’s parks being ringed by giant condominiums and turned into waterfront backyards for the wealthy. Currently the site is a ConEd substation, so, sure, we guess anything would be an improvement — just as long as these guys don’t show up.