Red Hook’s waterfront may be going from grit to glitz.
The Port Authority’s ouster of the company that had operated the piers since 1994 will boost a city scheme to transform the waterfront immortalized by Marlon Brando into a tourist destination, sources told The Post.
Hotels and condos may be back on deck since the PA, citing “financial difficulties,” finalized a Sept. 26 lease buyout of American Stevedoring International.
Phoenix Beverage Co., a beer distributor with no experience running docks, has just a one-year lease — proof that something is fishy, sources said.
“Ships need to book years in advance. This has to do with real-estate interests,” said Sandy Pope, head of Teamsters Local 805.
PA spokesman Steve Coleman insisted the deal won’t sink the working waterfront. The PA is crafting a long-term plan, he added.
Insiders aren’t convinced.
“Phoenix is a holding pattern until the city and the Port Authority reignite the intensive development unveiled in 2003,” said a source familiar with the buy-out deal. At that time, the city proposed a visitor-friendlier waterfront and angled to wrest control of the piers from ASI.
Development of the docks has supporters.
“Red Hook is becoming fairly gentrified, so this would make people happy,” said Councilman Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn).