NEW YORK | Brooklyn Rising

[NYguy]

Plans to be unveiled for a massive redevelopment plan in Brooklyn, featuring a 600 ft high observation balloon...


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/b...43BCSrEJFgql0L

A peek at $3 billion Brooklyn of the future







A helium balloon called Brooklyn Rising will be the centerpiece


By RICH CALDER and JEANE MACINTOSH
June 18, 2013

Brooklyn’s $3 billion tech boom will get another boost with a slick “Tech Triangle” development project that includes a massive helium observation balloon overlooking it all. The ambitious plan — which covers the area from DUMBO, to the Downtown hub to and the Brooklyn Navy Yard — is slated to be unveiled today, officials said.

“Some things we will undertake immediately, and some, like the streetscapes and public spaces, will be longer-term,” said Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

Renderings for the project call for a network of green, parklike spaces and pedestrian and bike paths. Plans also include a topiary arbor, a Cadman Plaza cafe and a curved footbridge leading to Borough Hall. Along Water and Sand streets beneath the Manhattan Bridge, planners envision a seasonal pop-up structure fantasy land of mini-golf, performance stages, lounges and wading pools.

There are several initiatives to revitalize unused or abandoned spaces, including the city’s first vertical dog run — replete with slopes and ramps — in DUMBO, and planted terraces, picnic tables and ping pong tables on a dead end street near the Brooklyn Bridge. And floating 600 feet above it all, near Brooklyn Landing, is a proposed tethered helium observation balloon called Brooklyn Rising — symbolizing the area’s revitalization. Riders would have “unprecedented views” of the city and harbor, according to the plans.

Officials hope the changes will continue to lure tech firms to the borough, where tech revenue is estimated to hit nearly $6 billion by 2015.

“This is really a comprehensive plan to guide the area’s growth over the next decade,” said Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Some of the projects already have funding; other will require partnerships with city government and the private sector.

Also on the wish list is the reopening of the anchorage to the Brooklyn Bridge, which has been closed since the 9/11 attack, which could house a revenue-producing waterfront museum and event space.

Under the blueprint, an open, parklike Columbus Park and Cadman Plaza “could have “the elegance of a Parisian promenade,” planners predicted.

[CoolCzech]

Oh Good Grief! First a 600 foot ferris wheel, now a 600 foot balloon.

What's next, a 600 foot piñata?

[NYguy]

LOL



http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2013...chies-brooklyn

New Plan Floats Large Observation Balloon to Attract Techies to Brooklyn


By Janet Upadhye
June 18, 2013

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle — covering Downtown Brooklyn, Navy Yard and DUMBO — has gone on the offensive to beat Silicon Valley for the title of tech capital of the nation.

To draw technology firms to Brooklyn, a master plan unveiled Tuesday proposes a tethered helium observation balloon called Brooklyn Rising that would ascend 600 feet in the air and giving 30 riders expansive views, along with the city's first-ever vertical dog run using slopes and ramps under the BQE.

The plan was conceived by a coalition of architecture, construction, engineering and policy firms led by WXY Architecture + Urban Design.

“This is an activation plan for the 21st century and a blueprint for ensuring that the surrounding communities can benefit from the economic opportunities emerging in the Tech Triangle and that innovation economy businesses can find the space to grow,” said Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation in a statement.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1375966

Downtown Brooklyn would benefit most from ‘Tech Triangle’ subsidy plan
New greenspace and connections could link downtown to Dumbo. City would subsidize landlords who make buildings tech-friendly.




The parking lot at Adams and Joralemon Sts. in downtown Brooklyn would become a park under the “Tech Triangle” plan being pushed by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.


By Erin Durkin
June 18, 2013

A plan to boost the burgeoning startup corridor known as the Brooklyn Tech Triangle could end up transforming the face of downtown Brooklyn.

“New York City can overtake Silicon Valley as the top domestic tech destination, but to do so we must (promote) neighborhood-centric innovation districts,” said Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, which presented the plan for the area comprising Dumbo, the Brooklyn Navy Yard and downtown Brooklyn.

The Tech Triangle will eventually boast 20,000 tech jobs - 10-15% of the city’s total - in 4 million square feet of office space by 2015.

Dumbo and the Navy Yard are already bursting with tech firms - but downtown Brooklyn has lagged due to office space that is hard for creative firms to use, and a lack of hipster cachet.

“The pedestrian corridors lack the creative energy that has attracted techies in neighborhoods like Dumbo, Union Square, Flatiron, and the Meatpacking District,” said Reed, citing bridges and highways, underpasses and overpasses that cut off downtown from the more attractive Dumbo.

Reed’s group is calling for a greenway called Brooklyn Strand stretching from Borough Hall to Brooklyn Bridge Park, knitting together 21 acres small green spaces that are currently carved up by parking lots and highway ramps.

There would be a pedestrian bridge over Adams St. and a central plaza created from a parking lot at the corner of Adams and Joralemon Sts.

A small green space at the edge of the Brooklyn—Queens Expressway would be rebuilt as “Brooklyn Landing” — with a soaring hot air balloon to take visitors 600 feet in the air, plus a terrace with picnic and ping-pong tables.

Many tech firms have been reluctant to move into the area because the old school office space doesn’t offer the open floor plans they’re looking for, and landlords want long-term leases for bigger spaces than they can use.

The advocates are pushing for tax subsidies for landlords who upgrade their buildings to meet tech needs, and a special zoning district near the Navy Yard that would mix residential and high-tech business use.

The corner of Sands and Adams Sts. could become a green screening room.




http://brooklyntechtriangle.com/asse...tegic-Plan.pdf

[mrnyc]

hey we get our own brooklyn turkbalon. nice.

that one is located in an istanbul 'outer borough' too, the kadikoy harbor on the anatolian side.

turkbalon goes up 200m, but they do not run it if there is even the slighest bit of wind:

[jd3189]

This is pretty awesome.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

turkbalon goes up 200m, but they do not run it if there is even the slighest bit of wind:

I've never seen one of those in action.



• Video Link

[dumbo]

This is pretty huge news for the Brooklyn tech district, but the balloon seems like a ridiculous boondoggle. There literally is no reason to add additional tourist attractions to dumbo

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by dumbo

There literally is no reason to add additional tourist attractions to dumbo

All the more reason to do it. I would prefer a more traditional observation tower though. We'll see if this idea moves forward or not, but its supposed to be symbolic of the entire plan.

[NYRebel]

I just finished skimming through the Tech Triangle strategic plan and I must say it's pretty awesome seeing some of the proposals/initiatives.

Hopefully things get going sooner than later with a lot of the basic things like lighting and better transit connections, etc.

[threeyoda]

The have one of those balloons in the Downtown Disney shopping center at Disney World in Florida. I think it's called Characters in Flight.

[Yorkie]

They had a similar balloon thing in Baltimore until a huge gust of wind unexpectedly descended out of mother natures mouth, people were on a lift/ride and needless too say all was not good and the thing was disbanded. Not such a good proposal, I do not think it will fly.....How about a Vegas style polecoster??

[Hypothalamus]

http://brooklynnavyyard.org/the-navy...velopment-map/

Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Map:


BROOKLYN NAVY YARD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

With twelve new or adaptively reused green industrial buildings, over two million square feet of new space and over 2,500 new jobs being created, the largest expansion at the Yard since WWII is well underway. Find out about our development plans.


Admirals Row:
- $120 million, 285,000sf mixed use development project including a 74,000sf supermarket, up to 86,000sf of neighborhood retail, commercial and office and 125,000sf of light industrial space.
- Adaptive reuse of two historic buildings – Building B and the Timber Shed
- 200 light industrial jobs and 350 retail jobs
- Estimated completion: end of 2017


BLDG 77:
- $70-80 million of base building improvements for the adaptive reuse of the 17-story, 960,000sf building
- Anchor upper floor tenant: Jack Basch, LLC
- 1500+ permanent jobs
- Funding: BNYDC Capital, New Market Tax Credits (unsecured); Federal and State Historic Tax Credits, Regional Council Grant (unsecured), CDBG Game Changer Grant Funds (unsecured)
- Estimated completion: 2015


GMC:
- $60 million adaptive reuse of 215,000sf former machine shop building
- Two anchor tenants: Crye Precision & New Lab
- 300 permanent jobs
- Funding: ESDC; City of New York; New York City Council; Brooklyn Borough President; New York City Regional Council; New Market Tax Credits; and Federal and State Historic Tax Credits
- Estimated completion: end of 2014


Steiner Media Campus:
- $22 million public funding (to date) for base infrastructure investments leveraging $347 million private investment 960,000sf to be developed within nine historic structures and new buildings, including new sound stages and a New York City Back Lot
- Academic partners and media companies including post-production, visual effects, gaming, animation and other high-tech media
- 2,200 permanent jobs
- Funding: ESD/Port Authority (Regional Council); City of New York; Federal and State Historic Tax Credits
- Phased project; estimated completion of full build-out: 2025

[sparkling]

First Renderings of Downtown Brooklyn's Greenway



Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Curbed Staff

A Downtown Brooklyn haven with pedestrian-friendly areas, public space and lots of green—a proposal called the Brooklyn Strand—started to crystallize Monday night at a meeting of Community Board 2, when WXY Architecture revealed its first renderings. The plans are a culmination of a year's worth of planning and working with neighbors to create proposals everyone likes. Many of the ideas stressed a need to create openness in an area that can feel claustrophobic. There was also a desire to use space under the Brooklyn Bridge for a market. "We want to rectify the mistakes of urban renewal," said Claire Weisz, a principal at WXY. "We want to create a sense of identity for the Strand so it doesn't feel like no man's land."

No matter how cool the renderings look, the project is still in the planning stages, so any real changes are still far off, with the real bureaucratic challenge of funding and coordination among city departments still ahead. But if all goes well, the neighborhood will see a 21-acre greenway connecting the waterfront to the courthouses to Columbus Park and the Borough Hall subway stop.

The war memorials in the area—the Korean War Memorial Plaza and Brooklyn War Memorial—were a centerpiece of the plan, with new bike access, more recreational space, and renovations to the memorials. Another major part of the design considered is what Brooklyn should feel like when pedestrians and drivers exit the Brooklyn Bridge. Weisz envisioned the gaps under the bridge as the perfect place for a marketplace.

The whole Brooklyn Strand concept originated out of a desire to transform dangerous intersections into parks and pedestrianized plazas, and empty, crumbling public spaces into actually appealing public spaces. Weisz and the community imagined areas like Commodore Barry Park being turned into a skate park or a place landscaped with rocks for recreational climbing.

"There are many opportunities to reimagine streets," Weisz said, mentioning that the European art collective Superflex helped them conceive ideas like this. "And that would become the brand of the Brooklyn Btrand."

Pedestrian areas on the streets in question would be widened to create plazas with furniture and areas for new businesses. Willoughby Square Park would be revived, the triangular BAM Park at Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue would reopen, and a new $1.4 million plaza called Fox Square would go up at the corner of Fulton and Flatbush. And the city would open up the ground floor of some city-owned buildings to add retail.

Residents during the meeting were pleased with the extensive presentation, but many said the area didn't need any more retail space. "There's such a desire to have programming and coffee shops," one neighbor said. "We don't need more coffee shops n Brooklyn. We're caffeinated enough."

Here's the entire presentation (warning PDF!) Weisz made to CB2, featuring lots more renderings and details.