LOOK OUT FOR IN 2021!
offi cials seeking to delay that
project due to funding shortages
COURIER LIFE, JANUARY 1-7, 2021 3
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A reimagined 86th Street
The city’s premier fashion
retailer, Century 21, declared
bankruptcy in early September,
shuttering all of its stores
shortly after, including its fl agship
location on Bay Ridge’s
86th Street. The sprawling department
store served as the
anchor of the bustling commercial
district for nearly 70
years, and many residents fear
Century 21’s closure will have
an adverse effect on nearby
businesses. Still, experts suggest
the change could bring
in more traffi c down the road
and, while neighbors hope to
see a Trader Joe’s or another
department store fi ll the vacancy,
the massive commercial
space will likely be fi lled
by multiple tenants instead of
serving as one large storefront
as Century 21 did. Between
that, and the coming closure
of TJ Maxx a block over, Bay
Ridge’s biggest thoroughfare
is in for some big changes
come 2021.
Making her-story
beneath the Brooklyn
Bridge
The fi nal section of Brooklyn
Bridge Park will open beneath
the lawn and borough’s
iconic namesake bridge in
December 2021. The $8 million
overhaul of the two-acre
lot into a pedestrian plaza at
Water and New Dock streets
will honor Emily Roebling,
who oversaw the Brooklyn
Bridge’s completion in 1883 after
her husband Washington
Roebling became bedridden
with the bends.
Restaurants, bars and
small businesses in limbo
With thousands of momsand
pops shutting their doors
across the city, small business
owners are pleading with
their elected offi cials to advocate
for direct fi nancial relief
to buoy their businesses to the
other side of the pandemic.
Independent restaurants and
bars have their sights set on
the federal Restaurants Act,
which would funnel cash payments
directly to the restaurant
industry, who claim they
did not see many gains from
the previously-passed Paycheck
Protection Program —
or the most recent stimulus
bill. If fi nancial aid for small
businesses isn’t achieved
within the coming months,
their owners warn of many
more closures .
BLM/police reform
The Black Lives Matter
protests in the wake of George
Floyd’s death spurred a wave
of police reforms, including
state bills that criminalized
chokeholds and required police
departments to make their
disciplinary records public.
The reforms continued on the
city level, with the City Council
cutting the NYPD’s budget
by $1 billion, though critics
argued that most of the cuts
were superfi cial.
E-scooters en route
After the state and city
legalized electric stand-up
scooters this year, the city’s
Department of Transportation
started accepting candidates
for a pilot program of
e-scooter sharing in one of
the boroughs outside of Manhattan.
Given that Brooklyn
hosted the city’s pilot for the
now-popular Citi Bike program
in the Navy Yard in 2013,
and was the starting point for
scooter-share company Revel
in Bushwick in 2018, the borough
is a likely candidate for
the city’s fi rst e-scooter sharing
service.
Coney’s fi rst ferry
The Coney Island ferry is
slated to set sail by the end of
2021, allowing locals to travel
to lower Manhattan in just 37
minutes. But while many Coney
Island residents they’re in
favor of the new ferry line, environmentalists
say that the
ferry dock’s location in the contaminated
Coney Island Creek
will stir up toxins, potentially
putting locals who swim and
fi sh in the creek at risk.
The future of Industry City
After years of planning
and community dialogue, executives
of Sunset Park’s Industry
City pulled their rezoning
application in September
after several local politicians
spoke out against the land
use change. If it had been approved,
the rezoning would
have paved the way for a $1
billion, 12-year renovation of
the complex that would have
added a slate of new uses, such
as big box retail and academic
space, to the 35-acre campus.
Beep, Beep
With term-limited Brooklyn
Borough President vying
to be the next mayor of New
York City, that leaves for a big
opening at Brooklyn Borough
Hall. A handful of hopefuls
have already entered the race,
including Assemblywoman
Jo Anne Simon, Brookdale
Hospital executive Khari Edwards
and term-limited Council
members Robert Cornegy
of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Antonio
Reynoso of Bushwick, and
Mathieu Eugene of Flatbush.
Contentious elections
boroughwide
All of city government will
be on the ballot next year, with
most of the 51-seat City Council
term-limited out of offi ce.
With that in mind — as well as
the already heavily-contested
races for mayor and comptroller
— the polls will no doubt be
an important place to be come
November.
Mass vaccination
Borough hospitals have
already begun rolling out
COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare
workers, as well as employees
and residents in longterm
health facilities and
nursing homes. City health
offi cials estimate that the vaccine
won’t be available to the
public until mid-2021, and
have not yet outlined how New
Yorkers will be able to get it.
Coney Island Creek
cleanup
While the Gowanus Canal
is gearing up for its cleanup,
the Coney Island Creek is
still in the early investigative
stages. Authorities with the
federal Environmental Protection
Agency announced in
December that they will test
samples of the creek’s soil and
water to see if the canal qualifi
es for a Superfund cleanup.
The investigation comes after
a local activist wrote a letter
to the agency about the creek’s
fi lth, and the agency determined
that the creek’s history
— in which it served as
a dumping ground for nearby
factories — qualifi es it for a
more thorough review.
BQE repairs
The fate of the crumbling
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s
triple cantilever section
around Brooklyn Heights has
been in bureaucratic limbo
for a year since the mayoral
expert panel released its report
which warned that the
decaying roadway could become
unsafe by 2025. City and
state offi cials have proposed
automating enforcement
against overweight trucks on
the highway and the city has
done some minor repair jobs,
but beyond that there has been
no publicized progress on the
monumental infrastructure
project.
Duffi eld Street
landmarking
City preservationist gurus
are slated to decide on
whether to landmark a 19th
century row house that once
housed slavery abolitionists
at 227 Duffi eld St. in Downtown
Brooklyn. The building
was home to slavery abolitionists
Thomas and Harriet Lee-
Truesdell from 1851 to 1863
and remained in their family’s
possession until 1921.
The house, along with several
along Duffi eld and Gold
streets, may have been a stop
on the Underground Railroad,
according to local lore. Developer
Samiel Hanasab plans
to erect a 10-story tower in its
place, and is against the landmarking,
but said through an
attorney that he would be willing
to commit to including a
“permanent” museum on the
lower fl oors and residential
units above.
Brooklyn Nets compete
for the NBA title
Former National Basketball
League MVP Kevin Durant fi -
nally takes the court wearing
the Brooklyn Nets’ signature
back and white uniforms this
year, in what should mark the
team’s most promising season
since they moved across the
Hudson River from New Jersey.
Along with All-Star point
guard Kyrie Irving, the Nets
fi gure to be among the best
squads in the eastern conference,
and most experts believe
they’ll be contenders to hoist
the Larry O’Brien Championship
Trophy next summer.
Franklin Avenue rezoning
appeal
The Department of City
Planning faced a shocking defeat
in court against neighborhood
activists after the 2018
Franklin Avenue rezoning
was overturned, with a Kings
County Supreme Court Justice
siding with activists who
feel the department did not
conduct a thorough enough
environmental review before
certifying the rezoning. If
pushed through, the rezoning
would have allowed for
two 16-story towers in Crown
Heights. City lawyers have
since fi led an appeal, and updates
are expected early into
2021.
A new year for Coney
Island
The past year was a tough
one for the People’s Playground.
Not only were beloved
traditions like the Mermaid
Parade canceled, but the season
long closure of the amusement
district dealt a tough
blow to the local economy.
The future of Sunset Park’s Industry City was thrown into fl ux when the developers withdrew their rezoning
application earlier this year.