Brooklyn Heights looked a $50 million gift horse in the mouth – and is getting its wish.
Many residents in the tony neighborhood say they wanted no part of a massive velodrome proposed for Brooklyn Bridge Park that would’ve included an inclined bike track and other indoor playing areas – even after project honchos chopped down seating from 2,500 to 500 for people attending competitive events.
Philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz and his team claim their decision this week to put the brakes on the project has nothing to with residents’ fear that their quiet cobblestone streets would be overrun by hordes of pedestrians and vehicles heading to a new year-round sports facility.
Instead, they said in a statement it was “not financially viable” to build the velodrome at the park by the edge of Joralemon Street and would seek another Big Apple site.
Brooklyn Heights Association President Jane McGroarty stopped short of saying the loss of the velodrome was a neighborhood victory but said there was significant local skepticism over the project.
“There were a lot of people in the [Brooklyn Heights’] Willowtown section concerned about the parking and traffic, “ McGroarty said. “Others raised questions about the size and felt a velodrome would not be an attraction for people to come to the park.”
But Judi Francis, who’s led the fight to keep more high-rise condos out of the park, said the velodrome plan should’ve been hailed — not criticized — because it would have finally filled “the park’s biggest void, a lack of year-round recreation.”
“The reason it did not happen is because the focus of this park is on housing – not recreation,” she said.
She suggested putting the velodrome along a park parcel by Atlantic Avenue slated for high-rise housing, but Brooklyn Bridge Park officials said that’s not an option.
The Joralemon Street site is now slated to serve as a maintenance area for the park, said Regina Myer, president of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp.
The velodrome project was first proposed by Rechnitz last year.