Speaker Quinn announced support prior to Council vote. On June 10, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s mixed-use development project adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The project will provide the neighborhood with a 45,000 sq.ft. middle school and approximately 300 new housing units, 20 percent of which will be permanently affordable.
Residents, neighborhood associations, and community groups opposed the project. In response, the City Planning Commission reduced the project’s height and increased its distance from the Brooklyn Bridge. 6 CityLand 69 (June 15, 2009). (read more…)

- Two Trees’ development near Brooklyn Bridge. Image: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.
Despite concerns project sent to full Council. On June 4, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the controversial proposal by Two Trees Management Company to build a mixed-use development at 10 Dock Street, adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn. In addition to providing approximately 300 residential units, 20 percent of which would be affordable, the proposed building would provide space for a 45,000 sq.ft. public middle school, a 465- space garage, and additional ground floor retail space. 6 CityLand 43 (April 15, 2009).
The City Planning Commission modified the project to address its relationship to the bridge and surrounding historic buildings. It reduced the height of the tallest section of the building from almost 184 ft. to a maximum of 170 feet. The Commission also required a notch in the nine-story section, reducing the westernmost 50 feet to seven stories, thereby increasing the distance between the building and the bridge’s span. (read more…)