Brooklyn Borough President

BOROUGH PRESIDENT HAILS CRUISE LINES AGREEMENT

“I am thrilled that Brooklyn's waterfront will be joining our borough-wide renaissance with the City and Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines' announcement to build a cruise ship terminal on our side of the East River. In the days to come I expect the rest of the cruise industry to follow. From day one as Borough President, I have advocated and fought for the cruise industry to come to Brooklyn. I pledged that I would remind Brooklynites that we are surrounded on three sides by water, and that we should be proud of that fact, and make it work for the benefit of our economy and our quality of life.

A cruise ship terminal will accomplish those goals. As a big boost to our tourism initiative, even more national and international visitors will have the chance to experience our attractions, culture, food and historic neighborhoods, which will put dollars in the pockets of Brooklyn businesses, which will help create more jobs. And the addition of the cruise ship industry will further diversify our economy, generating opportunities for existing and new small businesses in the shipping, manufacturing and service sectors.

Sadly, for many years Brooklyn’s waterfront remained dormant, and this use of the waterfront by the cruise industry and the future growth is evidence of resurgence.

I thank Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, Andrew Alper, Kate Asher and Josh Sirefman of the Economic Development Corporation, and the New York Cruise Alliance for their assistance in making Brooklyn the cruise-ship destination of the future.

Because the cruise industry is growing dramatically, I applaud the City's improvements to Manhattan's West Side facilities to accommodate increased ship traffic and larger capacity. And I know that as the industry grows, Brooklyn's new berth will become an equally sought-after port of call. To the Queen Mary II, I say, "We're waitin' for ya!"

I, along with all Brooklynites who love to cruise as much as I do, will be able to do it right here without taking an airplane to Florida or even crossing our beloved Brooklyn Bridge.

I hope when cruise ships leave from Canada for the Caribbean or England, Brooklyn will be their first port of call, and I know that once visitors step off the boat and experience Brooklynites' world-famous hospitality, they might just stay forever.”