“We are gratified by today’s City Council vote. The Downtown Brooklyn Plan is a cornerstone of our administration’s five borough strategy to preserve and grow jobs in New York City by diversifying our economy and strengthening the business environment while making the City more livable for residents. This plan will go a long way toward creating a vibrant downtown in Brooklyn and ensuring New York City’s competitiveness for many years to come.

“Already the City’s third-largest business district, Downtown Brooklyn offers companies that are seeking to diversify their operations cost-efficient office space, outstanding mass transportation, and burgeoning residential, academic and cultural opportunities. The approval of the plan will allow for the creation of 4.5 million square feet of new commercial space, 1,000 units of housing, and new open space as well as streetscape improvements.

“With the completion of the approval process for this comprehensive and visionary plan, we will now focus our energies on attracting companies to Downtown Brooklyn and developing the sites – both commercial and residential – covered in this effort.  Our goal is to be more than just prepared for the next wave of development; it is to help stimulate new economic growth and capture those opportunities for all New Yorkers.

“I want to thank the City’s Economic Development Corporation, the City Planning Commission, Borough President Marty Markowitz and the local Council Members David Yassky and Leticia James for all their hard work and commitment to seeing the Downtown Brooklyn Plan through the process. We will continue to work collaboratively with all parties to ensure that the concerns and the priorities of the local community are heard as we move forward to implement the plan.”