Fox, co-founder of New York Water Taxi, the precursor to NYC Ferry Service, has numerous civic credits to his name, including spearheading the creation of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway and co-founding the original Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition.<\/p>\n
More than 75 people attended the online presentation and conversation sponsored by Resilient Red Hook and The City Club of New York. The meeting was chaired by Victoria Alexander, chair of Resilient Red Hook.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coming in at roughly $1 billion in public investment, the all-maritime plan would create a modern, resilient Blue Highway Hub with no housing, at one third the price of the controversial<\/a> $3.5 billion BMT Vision Plan<\/a> approved in September by the New York City Economic Development Corporation under former Mayor Eric Adams.\u00a0<\/p>\n The EDC plan supported by Adams would convert about half of the current industrial acreage to 6,000 new units of housing, 60% of it luxury, bringing 15,000-18,000 new residents to an area prone to flooding and lacking transportation<\/a> and sewage and electric infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n The all-maritime proposal, conversely, focuses on using the existing maritime infrastructure to support freight movement as a Blue Highway Hub, shifting freight from trucks to vessels that move food, packages and building materials by water instead of trucks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The plan maintains that one of the city\u2019s last publicly owned industrial ports, with its strategic location in the harbor, should be preserved as essential marine infrastructure and restored as a \u201cfully functioning, all electric, climate-ready working port,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n He told the crowd that the organization hopes the plan will serve \u201cas a catalyst for a viable port of the future, to expand the Blue Highway initiative that\u2019s just begun, although it\u2019s been discussed for about 20 years. And our approach is quicker, cheaper and more easy to implement than the plan that\u2019s been put forward by EDC.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a critical piece of maritime infrastructure, strategically located,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is the hub of the harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n Bring in a marina supply store and build a dry-stack marine<\/p>\n Fox ran through the maritime advantages the site possesses, such as 1,400 linear feet of wharfage on the south face, which he said is \u201chard to find in New York City.\u201d He suggested building a marine supply store, \u201cwhich you can\u2019t find in the city anymore,\u201d and an inexpensive dry-stack marina \u201cso that boats could be taken out of the water and put on racks, which is done all over the world, except for here in New York. It gets them out of the water, they don\u2019t pollute the water, you don\u2019t get a \u2018beard\u2019 on the bottom of your boat, and it\u2019s inside in the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cYou can literally call a food and beverage place and say, \u2018I\u2019d like my boat refueled. I want my favorite sandwiches, and soda and hot chocolates for the kids, and I\u2019ll pick up the boat at noon.\u201d That facility could be a buffer between the commercial maritime to the south and recreational maritime to the north, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fox shared numerous design ideas retaining the current \u201cfinger piers.\u201d He suggested Pier 10 remain the major input for containers, and the right-hand side piers 9A, 9B, and 8 \u201cbecome distribution, over time,\u201d though Pier 9A is in too bad shape to repair currently. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the money now to begin to make major capital investments, so we have to make investments with the money we have judiciously, and then grow over time.\u201d Depending on future water-levels, Pier 9A might eventually be replaced with a floating pier, for example.<\/p>\n Pier 8, in good shape, can be redeveloped as a distribution facility for the small \u201croll-on, roll-off\u201d vessels that have begun to come into New York Harbor, he said, \u201canticipating the Blue Highway that both EDC and [the Department of Transportation] have been championing the last two years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the neighborhood suffers from frequent brownouts and the passenger-ship terminal is electrified, the site needs to have its own independent power, Fox said. \u201cWe suggest building a micro-grid for this entire facility, and having a tri-generation facility with wind, solar on the top of all of these buildings, and high-efficiency natural gas generators to create the energy needed to run this site, and to run it in an emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n He also suggested a cold storage facility at the site. \u201cThe majority of the produce that comes in right now at Pier 10 is from South America. The EDC plan says that we should barge it up to the Bronx, put it in cold storage in the Bronx, and then distribute it from the Bronx to the city. We think that\u2019s a waste of time and money, and that we should build a cold-storage facility here. \u2026 This actually gives us greater food security.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a working port, not surplus land<\/p>\n Resilient Red Hook sees the plan as treating the Brooklyn Marine Terminal \u201cas working port infrastructure, not surplus land,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor over a year now, the community, along with the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Task Force, has consistently asked the NYC Economic Development Corporation throughout this process to present alternative plans for the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, specifically an all-maritime plan that preserves and revitalizes the critical industrial asset and public infrastructure that the city needs,\u201d Alexander said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDespite repeated requests, the EDC has only put forward a housing-heavy redevelopment vision, and given the task force an ultimatum between a do-nothing plan and a housing plan. No alternative options, and certainly no maritime forward strategy were ever presented to us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The numerous participants included local Councilmember Alexa Aviles, Jim Tampakis, owner of Marine Spares international; Columbia Street Waterfront District\u2019s John Leyva; and PortSide NewYork\u2019s Caralina Salguero, among others.<\/p>\n Key elements of the all-maritime plan include:<\/p>\n Modernization of the port to support a citywide Blue Highway system \n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 1 | \t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BMT-Tom_fox-plan-01-Fox-screen-grab-600x353.jpg\")
The City Club of New York trustee Tom Fox presents a new, all-maritime Brooklyn Marine Terminal proposal on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. Photo: Screen grab from presentation<\/p>\n![\"Cranes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BMT-video-shocks-09-cranes-Mary-Frost-600x450.jpg\")
Cranes at Atlantic Basin within the Brooklyn Marine Terminal site. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMT-scoping-postponed-01-NYCEDC-600x467.jpg\")
The 122-acre Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Photo: NYCEDC<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BMT-Tom_fox-plan-03-Chris-Hauser-600x380.jpg\")
A Greenway plays a crucial role in the resiliency of the all-maritime Brooklyn Marine Terminal plan. Graphic: Chris Hauser<\/p>\n![\"Elements](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BMT-Tom_fox-plan-02-Chris-Hauser-600x384.jpg\")
Elements of the all-maritime Brooklyn Marine Terminal plan. Graphic: Chris Hauser<\/p>\n
\nCost conscious redevelopment of BMT largely \u201cas is,\u201d requiring approximately $1 billion in public investment
\nAvoiding landfill or platforming in the Buttermilk Channel and creating opportunities for private maritime, engineering and logistics investment
\nPreservation of Red Hook\u2019s industrial identity without large-scale residential upzoning in a high-risk area
\nNearly 30 acres of public open space, including waterfront parks on Pier 7 and Pier 12
\nExpanded green infrastructure and emergency preparedness systems designed for continuous operation
\nMore than two miles of active wharfage supporting regional freight movement and emergency operations
\nMaritime, engineering, and technical job pathways, including port and vessel operations and maintenance, electrical and mechanical systems, logistics and transport, and management, supported by training and apprenticeships<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ultima-reader-response.png\"\/)
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Cargo-handling](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BMT-scoping-postponed-02-cranes-Mary-Frost-250x250.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDeadline for Brooklyn Marine Terminal environmental testimony extended to March 31<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMary Frost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
![\"Hilary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMT-prep-session-01-Mary-Frost-250x250.jpg\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/BMT-video-shocks-01-NYCEDC-250x250.jpg\")