U.S. Court Facilities in Brooklyn and Reuse of General Post Office Environmental Impact Statement

POSTAL SERVICE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

U.S. Court Facilities in Brooklyn and Reuse of General Post

Office Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCIES: Postal Service, General Services Administration.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The United States Postal Service and the United States General

Services Administration are issuing this notice to advise the public

that an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared and considered

for proposed Federal Court Facilities and reuse of the General Post

Office in Brooklyn, New York.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Leon Levine, Environmental Specialist, United States Postal

Service, P.O. Box 40591, Philadelphia, PA 19197-0591

Mr. Peter A. Sneed, Director, Planning Staff, Public Buildings Service,

U.S. General Services Administration, 26 Federal Plaza--Room 1609, New

York, NY 10278

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Postal Service (USPS) and

the United States General Services Administration (GSA) will prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Federal Court

project. The project will entail reuse and modernization as well as

partial infill construction of the Brooklyn General Post Office

building; demolition of the existing Celler Federal Office Building and

construction of a new, larger court building in its place; and

modernization of the existing Courthouse. The General Post Office

Building, located at 271 Cadman Plaza East, across Tillary Street from

the Emanuel Celler Federal Office Building and Courthouse at 225 Cadman

Plaza East, is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic

Places, and is a designated New York City Landmark. The two parcels

total approximately 4 acres and the three existing buildings contain

approximately 1,011,000 gross square feet. As proposed, the project

would provide approximately 1,531,000 gross square feet, and would

provide space for the Federal Courts, the U.S. Attorney, the U.S.

Marshals Service, and various support functions. A portion of the

ground floor of the General Post Office Building would continue to

house a retail postal facility. The proposed project is being

undertaken to serve the dual needs of USPS, which seeks an appropriate

reuse for the General Post Office building, now that its mail-

processing functions have been relocated to a new facility in the

Spring Creek area of Brooklyn, and GSA, which needs to accommodate the

projected space requirements of the Federal Courts and related

agencies.

The EIS will evaluate alternative sites and designs for the

proposed court facilities and reuse of the General Post Office as well

as the No Build alternative. The EIS will assess impacts on the

affected environment, including the following resource areas: land use

and community facilities, historic resources, visual character,

economics, traffic and transportation, air quality, noise, hazardous

materials, and utilities. Construction impacts will also be assessed.

The EIS is being prepared in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its implementing regulations and

procedures as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the

USPS Facilities Environmental Handbook, and the GSA PBS Handbook

Preparation of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact

Statements. To ensure that the full range of issues and alternatives

relating to the proposed project are addressed, comments and

suggestions are being solicited. To facilitate the receipt of comments,

a public scoping meeting will be held on November 15, 1994, from 2 PM

to 4 PM and 7 PM to 9 PM in the Dibner Library Auditorium, Polytechnic

University, CATT Building, 5 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY. Written

comments may be mailed to either of the informational contact persons

identified above no later than December 2, 1994.

Dated: October 24, 1994.

Dennis E. Wamsley,

USPS Realty Asset Management.

Dated: October 26, 1994.

Karen R. Adler,

Regional Administrator, GSA.

[FR Doc. 94-27021 Filed 10-31-94; 8:45 am]

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