[The Performance Stair and Tidal Pool at Pier 2/Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates]

There has been much info floating around in recent days about Brooklyn Bridge Park and none of it has been very good. First, came a press release from a host of Brooklyn pols that would seem to have been an indication that segments of the park are going to be delayed because the condos and hotel that would fund maintenance of the park have been put on hold. Then, there’s the info about the park being so over budget that its future is in grave doubt. As we noted on Curbed, the park will cost $16.1 million a year to maintain, which would make it the city’s second most expensive park per acre to operate after Bryant Park. The newest cost estimate for the 85-acre park is $346.3 million. Gov. George Pataki announced the original cost as $150 million in 2002. About $230 million has been budgeted, but the nasty operating cost problem remains. This is all a way of saying that there’s an important meeting coming up tonight that’s being held by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. to talk about the park’s “financial model.” It’s at 6PM at Dibner Auditorium at NYU-Polytechnic University at 5 Metrotech Center. We could be dead wrong about this, but we’re not expecting good news to come from this meeting. We’re suspecting announcements of delays of the park that aren’t underway and scheduled for completion next year and 2010. While we disagree strongly with the way the park is being financed, we’ll be very happy if we’re wrong about the delays. We think the park will be a wonderful amenity for the borough.