Squibb 2.0
Multi-million-dollar bridge to Bridge Park
will be replaced after fi ve years in use
S herbee Antiques Est. 1940
COURIER L 30 IFE, DEC. 14–20, 2018 DT
NOT COMING BACK: The Squibb Bridge during one of the roughly 32 months it was open to
the public since it debuted in 2013. File photo by Jordan Rathkopf
Serving the Dental Needs for the Carrol Gardens
and beyond for over 30 years!
Plus
Autoclave State-of-the-art
Sterilization
Special Attention
To Nervous & Anxious
Patients
Most Dental Plans
Accepted
Children Treated With Tender Loving Care
Dr. Jeffrey M. Kramer
(Corner W. 9th St.),
624-5554 624-7055
BY JULIANNE CUBA
Brooklyn Bridge Park bigwigs are
shelling out millions of dollars to build
an entirely new span in place of the
beleaguered Squibb Bridge, which zig
zags from its namesake park in Brooklyn
Heights down to the waterfront
lawn below, and for the second time
closed due to structural problems back
in July.
“We have announced plans to fully
replace Squibb Bridge,” Eric Landau,
president of the semi-private Brooklyn
Bridge Park Corporation, which oversees
the green space, said at a Dec. 5
corporation board meeting. “There
is certainly a long history with this
bridge.”
Weeks after its recent closure ,
Landau in September told locals that
the original span funded by some $4
million in taxpayer dollars — which
opened in 2013 , closed the next year
for a roughly $3-million repair, and reopened
in April 2017 before shuttering
again this year — would be off limits
indefi nitely, because what park leaders
thought was just a single faulty
piece of wood turned out to be one of
several planks decaying due to “higher
than expected moisture levels,” even
though one of the bridge’s main materials,
black locust, is supposed to withstand
heavy moisture.
Engineering fi rm Arup Group, the
company that completed the bridge’s
fi rst repair after it closed in 2014, surveyed
the span after it shuttered this
year. That study ultimately resulted in
two options for Brooklyn Bridge Park
keepers: repair the crossing for a second
time, or build a new overpass from
scratch, Landau said. And meadow
stewards chose the latter, but decided
to use steel and aluminum for the
Squibb’s second coming, instead of its
original wood.
“Based on a variety of factors that
is the decision we made,” he said.
The new span will be built by Manhattan–
based company Turner Construction,
take roughly 18 months to
complete from the start of the design
process through construction, and
cost the park $6.5 million — $2.5 million
more than repairing the current
bridge would have cost, according to
Landau, whose rep said the cash to
construct the new crossing will come
from funds generated by development
projects and concession sales in the
green space.
But the extra dough is worth the
investment to create a safer and more
reliable bridge that will hold up for decades
and require little ongoing maintenance,
said Landau, who spoke to
this newspaper after giving website
Curbed the exclusive on the new span.
“We believe that buys us certainty,
fi rst and foremost,” he said. “Additionally,
the fact that the wood will continue
to deteriorate will end up costing
us signifi cantly more money in the
long run.”
Many taxpayers, however, won’t
soon forget watching the millions they
coughed up for the original bridge —
whose creator Brooklyn Bridge Park
leaders fi red and sued in 2016 amid the
span’s fi rst fi x — essentially go down
the drain now that most of the Squibb
will be replaced, according to a Brooklyn
Heights resident who formerly represented
the neighborhood in Albany
for 30 years.
“We spent a lot of money on that
bridge and it’s been a major disappointment,”
said attorney and former
state Sen. Martin Connor, who sits on
the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation’s
17-member board of directors.
Landau said he expects the second
iteration of the Squibb Bridge to be
ready by 2020 — the same year a local
pol hopes the pool meadow stewards
are building in Squibb Park will open
as well.
But the park head — who before the
bridge shuttered in July said he could
not promise that construction of the
pool wouldn’t require him to close the
span he is now replacing — wouldn’t
comment on the possibility of the two
projects butting heads.
And he offered no more clarity
on when the swimming hole will be
ready for locals to dive in, stating his
staff must fi rst raise all the necessary
funds and choose an architect before
he can provide a timeline.
POT of GOLD
Sherbee Antiques is a family-owned business that has been
serving the tri-state area for over 60 years.
We buy from the full contents of homes and estates
to single items. We specialize in high-end goods such as
antiques, art, fi ne porcelain, lighting, bronzes and sculptures.
We have particular interest in fi ne jewelry, timepieces,
diamonds, gold and silver.
If you call we will come to you, free of charge, and evaluate
what you are selling. We know the value of your possessions
and are willing to pay top dollar on the spot. Please feel free
to call seven days a week for a free same day consultation.
You may be sitting on a large fortune.
Call Sherbee Antiques. They’ll tell you how much.
CALL TODAY 917-748-7622 OR 718-762-7448
You’ll be glad you did.
Continued on page 40