Often, part of the Conditions of a City or County Building Permit is that a Performance Surety Agreement be signed and a Surety Bond, Cash Deposit or an Assignment of Funds in a Bank, to be set aside for use if the permit holder fails to complete the project.
My first thought is that their Performance Surety may have been in the form of Cash or an Assignment of Funds in which case, they have asked for it to be reduced because they've run short of funds. Sounds like the release of around 15 million dollars has been approved if that's the case.
If they had a Surety Bond and the amount was reduced, their Bond payment will be reduced accordingly which in turn will ease their financial strain somewhat but they won't get a lump sum of money returned to them, rather their cash outlay during the project will be less.
I can't imagine any of these things happening without some other form of collateral (perhaps and existing Brooklyn property) having been obtained first.