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