GREENPOINT — A CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE on Thursday voted 9-0 to approve the controversial Monitor Point project in Greenpoint after Councilmember Lincoln Restler negotiated an increase in affordable housing in return for his support. The full City Council vote will take place next week.
The project consists of two waterfront towers hosting 1,324 new units and a museum for the USS Monitor. In a joint statement, Speaker Julie Menin and Restler said the Land Use Committee approved the proposal after the share of permanently affordable housing was upped from 25% to 50%. The subcommittee also secured a commitment from the Mamdani administration “to finally complete the long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park,” Menin and Restler said.
Other commitments include construction funding for the Greenpoint Monitor Museum; the relocation of two MTA facilities; $300,000 annually for the long-term maintenance of Bushwick Inlet Park; and roughly one acre of waterfront open space connecting the Greenpoint waterfront and Bushwick Inlet Park.
The project had split area residents. Among other issues, environmental groups raised concerns about the effects of the towers on the inlet’s ecosystem. A new waterfront bulkhead, storm water retention systems, and elevated buildings and green space will help mitigate flooding, Restler said in a release.
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