Public invited to hearing on MetroTech BID expansion to Fort Greene cultural area

Would include BAM, Mark Morris, Atlantic Yards

April 29, 2015 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The dotted red line indicated the proposed new boundaries of an expanded MetroTech BID. Map courtesy of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

Share this:

The MetroTech Business Improvement District (MetroTech BID) hopes to expand beyond its current 16-acre Downtown Brooklyn footprint to encompass cultural institutions and commercial areas in Fort Greene.

These include BAM, Theatre for a New Audience, Mark Morris,BRIC, Atlantic Terminal and Atlantic Center mall, in an area dubbed the Brooklyn Cultural District. It also includes some as-yet unrealized projects, such as a renovated Fox Square and a new 16,000-square-foot plaza at BAM South on the corner of Lafayette and Flatbush avenues.

Community Board 2 will hold a public hearing on the expansion on Tuesday, May 5. This will be the public’s only chance to comment to CB2 on the topic.

The new boundary extends like a jagged tail along Flatbush Avenue. The proposed “sub-district” – which will not include Barclays Center — will have its own budget and assessment roll but will become part of the MetroTech BID. The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership oversees operations for the MetroTech BID.

During the meeting following the hearing, the community board’s Economic Development and Employment Committee may make a recommendation. Any recommendation made by the committee will be considered at CB2’s May 13 general meeting.

The BID is expected to bring expanded services to the cultural district. Forest City Ratner’s Ashley Cotton chairs the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Forest City is a major stakeholder in both MetroTech and the Atlantic Center mall.

A similar plan aborted in June 2013 because “organizers couldn’t figure how to spread the burden fairly on property owners,” according to an article by Norman Oder for the Observer.

The hearing takes place at Long Island University (Metcalfe Hall, in the Jonas Board Room) at Flatbush and DeKalb avenues, in Fort Greene.