It’s long been a blight on the Williamsburg waterfront, but now, we can officially say that the CitiStorage building is no more.
Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park shared the news on social media and through an email to supporters.
“The long-awaited demolition of the huge Citistorage building signifies the end of a park preservation phase that shifted into full throttle at the start of 2015, almost 10 years to the day, from when a fire destroyed the other CitiStorage structure and the owner tried to sell the 7.5 acres property – earmarked for the promised park but not yet owned by the City – for private development,” the group wrote in the email.
“18 months later, the community-driven Where’s Our Park? campaign led by the Friends Group successfully pressured the City to purchase the land, completing the acquisition of the final property necessary to build the 27 acre park promised in the 2005 Greenpoint/Williamsburg Waterfront Rezoning Agreement.”
20 years after the controversial rezoning, Greenpoint and Williamsburg residents can finally look forward to the dream of a united waterfront park area on Kent Avenue. As other parcels of the park land have already undergone development, this particular lot was the last piece of the puzzle in creating unbroken green space bridging the two neighborhoods. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Economic Development Corporation oversaw the demolition.
Next, the lot will undergo a remediation process before it can finally open to the public as park space.
Now, how’s about that Box Street Park, hmm?
It’s funny though, they were able to buy the parcel of land for $150 million. I met the owner of that property years ago, so it’s completely surreal. It took them forever once they finally acquired the land, it’s taken the city forever, to actually get down to tearing it down- years in fact.