to the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. Some of the base's remaining activities would be relocated to the nearby Federal Office Building at 29th Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Officials held a decommissioning ceremony on December 9, 1966. Immediately afterward, the New York City government announced that it would acquire the terminal for maritime redevelopment. The city planned to relocate its foreign-trade zone from Staten Island to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, where there would be more room for the foreign-trade zone's operations. In addition, U.S. Senator Jacob Javits and the Brooklyn Army Terminal Development Committee discussed possible uses for the Brooklyn Army Terminal, including for the United States Post Office Department or for the Department of Defense. A dispute arose between local business owners, who wanted a large post office facility in the terminal, and the city. In June 1969, it was announced that the U.S. government would lease a section of the base to the city for two years. Afterward, the city continued to lease part of the base, and in turn, sublet the space to private companies. After a fire destroyed the Morgan General Mail Facility in Manhattan in December 1967, some of the Morgan Facility's operations were temporarily moved to the newly vacated Brooklyn Army Terminal. Soon the Brooklyn Army Terminal facility was handling 18,000 bags of international mail every day. The facility employed four thousand workers, 75% of whom lived in Brooklyn. A permanent facility to replace the Brooklyn Army Terminal operation was originally planned for Murray Hill, Manhattan, but in 1970 the planned facility was moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. In December 1970, the government announced that it was going to close the post office facility at Brooklyn Army Terminal. Shipping operations at the Brooklyn Army Terminal resumed in 1970. That same year, the federal government quietly proposed building a federal detention facility at the terminal to replace an overcrowded facility in Manhattan. The Navy moved into the terminal in 1972, and renamed it the Military Ocean Terminal. The former Brooklyn Army Base now served as the headquarters for the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Atlantic. Army shipping activities were permanently moved to Bayonne starting in 1974, saving the federal government $2 million per year. The U.S. military had completely vacated the space by October 1975. Sale of terminal to city The United States Senate voted in August 1979 to allow