Marina Plan Roils the Waters in Sheepshead Bay

By Shlomo Friedman

On a scorching day in July, it was easy to see why Misim Fortanov thinks the Breakers development on Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay is the best place to live in Brooklyn.  Even as the rest of the city was sweltering under 95-degree heat, the deck by the Breakers, facing the cool breezes of the bay, was comfortable, almost akin to San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

Fortanov can’t wait for the marina with 23 boat slips that the Breakers developers are planning to construct off the deck of the development. He said it would be “amazing” to set sail with his boat on the bay.

But if some neighborhood residents of the area have their way, the Breakers development won’t build its marina any time soon.  The marina is facing stiff headwinds from opponents who cite concerns ranging from boat congestion to an adverse environmental impact.

The dispute over the Breakers marina marks yet another chapter in the decade-long story of two competing forces and visions in Sheepshead Bay.  In this yin and yang, old-time residents have sought to preserve the quaint, slow-moving, almost-run-down charming character of the area while newcomers, mostly Russian immigrants, see Sheepshead Bay as a neighborhood begging for renewal and renovation.  They perceive the bay area as an untapped real-estate goldmine of comparatively inexpensive property with close proximity to beaches, and those breezes. These immigrants have also viewed the bay as a commercial opportunity for upscale clubs and restaurants.

For the most part, the newer residents have won.  Until the housing bust, a wave of condominium construction hit Sheepshead Bay with the force of an ocean riptide. Small bungalows were sold to developers and razed. The Breakers, a 75-unit luxury complex with units ranging in price from $400,000  to more than $1 million, replaced several bungalows and a beach club on Emmons Avenue.  Another new development, with 54 units, directly across the street from the Breakers on Coyle Street, displays a banner advertising the sale of luxury condominiums.

While longtime residents have been largely unsuccessful in hindering development onshore, they have been more successful with preserving the bay itself.  Boat traffic, although heavy has been mostly the same for the past several years, according to Tom Tulyer, secretary of the Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club.  A protest by residents several years ago scuttled a proposed marina at the Lar Mar Villas, also on  Emmons.

Tulyer expressed concern that the Breakers’ marina “would handicap boats coming in and out.  It’s crowded enough in the bay right now.”  He also was worried that in the future the “marina would try to expand and take over more of the waterfront of the bay.”

Philip Wilk, an agent of Wilk Realty, which is selling the units, expressed surprise at the opposition to the marina.  Pointing to old wooden piles, alert seagulls perched on their tops, off the deck of the Breakers, Wilk said that the planned marina would occupy the same space where a previous dock had stood.  That dock was part of the Palm Shores Cabana Club, torn down to make way for the Breakers.

The marina, according to the plan filed with the New York State Department of Environment and Conservation, will be for residents only.  But some Breakers residents voiced skepticism that the marina was to be used only by them.  As with many luxury condominium projects in Brooklyn, the housing market collapse hit the Breakers hard.  Only about half of the development’s units are sold and construction is incomplete in some spots.  The developers promised 24-hour security, but there is now only a gate in front, with a boarded up security-guard booth behind it.  At a Community Board 15 meeting in June, several residents of the Breakers asked for support to oppose the marina, fearing that developer was diverting funds to it from the development itself.  They contended that the developer was in dire financial straits hoping to raise revenue by renting the marina to individuals who were not residents of the Breakers.

Wilk said that although sales at the Breakers were sluggish last year, he has seen a surge of interest this year and that the development’s units are starting to sell again.

The allegation that outsiders would rent boat slips at the marina triggered another concern among several Sheepshead Bay residents.  If the marina would be open to outsiders, they would have to come by car, possibly hauling their boats along with them, exacerbating the already congested traffic on Emmons Avenue.

Community Board 15 Chairperson Teresa Scavo said she was uneasy with inexperienced residents hopping on jet skis and not understanding the risks involved in traversing a busy waterway.  “You start putting jet skis back there when I have a huge ship coming down Sheepshead Bay,” Scavo said, “and, God forbid, you are going to have huge problem here.”

Although the dramatic changes on Emmons Avenue are man-made, there are equally striking alterations taking place below the bay’s surface. As the mouth of Sheepshead Bay widens westward into the Atlantic Ocean, the northern beachfront along the water is Plumb Beach.  Plumb Beach has suffered serious erosion over the past several years, and during a severe storm in March, waves flooded under the Belt Parkway.  The beach erosion has filled Sheepshead Bay with silt, only permitting boats with a small draft to navigate the bay.

Cathy Flynn, president of the Plumb Beach Association, said she was concerned that the dredging for the Breakers’ marina would alter the tidal flow of the bay, dumping more silt to already clogged navigation lanes.  “Plumb Beach is already almost gone,” she said.  “Kingsborough Community College is already buried in sand.” According to Flynn, on occasion fishing boats have run aground in the bay and have had to wait for a high tide to extricate them from the ocean bed.

With only two feet of sandbags separating the Belt-Parkway from disaster and the bay perilously shallow, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-9th District) had requested $35 million for dredging and beach restoration as part of the 2010 Water Resource Development Act.  However, the bill, passed on July 29^th, didn’t include any funding for the bay or the beach.  As a stop-gap measure, New York City is funding work by the Army Corps of Engineers to bolster the shoreline.

Flynn has written a letter on behalf of the association to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the body responsible for approving the marina, asking for the “tidal flow to be very carefully studied before any excavation will be permitted.”

According to Thomas Panzone, citizen particpation specialist for the department, “The potential impact of the marina on the situation in the bay is a factor that Department of Conservation is evaluating. Panzone said it was too early to comment on the marina’s environmental impact:  “Because the application is still under consideration, the Department cannot comment in a conclusory way on this question.”

For his part, Fortanov dismissed the concerns over the marina.  “The other yacht clubs are just afraid of losing business,” he said, grinning. “People are always afraid of change.  It’s good.  Did you ever read ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’