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Brooklynites Find Way To Complain About Free $40 Million Fieldhouse
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 3, 2012
Modified May 3, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published May 3, 2012
Modified May 3, 2012
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New York we love you, but you're bringing us down. Only here would locals actively complain about a $40 million dollar gift that will bring them a year-round recreational facility with all its expenses paid for a decade. Yup, it appears that a bunch of Brooklyn Heights locals are not looking forward to the 115,000-square-foot Fieldhouse which it was recently announced will be underwritten by philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz. Why? The traffic, of course.
The Post went to a park planning meeting last night and a group of locals came out against (or at least deeply concerned about) the addition of the full-time facility which will boast an inclined indoor cycling track, playing areas, seating for 2,500 (as well as parking), and more. "This would be devastating to the southern Heights" Mary Goodman, a member of Community Board 2 who lives a few blocks away, said at the meeting.
Others were a little more reasonable, however, simply expressing hopes that the city's environmental review process will take traffic into account: "It’s a very exciting project," Brooklyn Heights Association President Jane McGroarty told the tabloid. "But if [the field house is] going to have 2,500 people, where are they going to come from?"
One suggestion being pushed around is to fence off Joralemon Street at the corner of Furman to prevent direct access to the park there (forcing park goers to enter from elsewhere). And if that's what it takes to bring everything from basketball to gymnastics, track cycling to tennis to the still growing park year round, then so be it. Mostly we're just excited for the new space to open to the public...in 2015.
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brooklyn
brooklyn bridge park
brooklyn bridge park fieldhouse
brooklyn heights
Garth Johnston
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