Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) is excited to honor Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and Brooklyn Brewery Co-founder and Chairman Steve Hindy with a 2019 Building Connections Award for their extraordinary contributions to connecting Brooklyn communities through their support of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway – a 26-mile landscaped dedicated pedestrian and cyclist route for people of all ages and abilities from Greenpoint to East New York which benefits Brooklyn’s environmental, economic, and social health.

2019 HONOREE ERIC L. ADAMS

Eric L. Adams was elected the 18th Borough President of Brooklyn in November 2013. He previously served as New York State Senator for the 20th District. In 1995, he co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an advocacy group that rose to nationwide prominence speaking out against police brutality, racial profiling, and departmental diversity.

In 2016, Eric was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Having lost vision in his left eye and suffering from nerve damage in his hands and feet, he went against the initial recommendations of his doctors and pursued a whole-food, plant-based diet. Within three months, Eric reversed his diabetes diagnosis, and he has subsequently been able to impact the health of countless New Yorkers facing chronic diseases, including his own mother.

Eric lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where he has resided for more than 20 years. He enjoys biking through his neighborhood, meditating, and exploring new cultures through travel.

Why is the Greenway important to Brooklyn?
The Greenway allows Brooklynites of all ages and abilities to access the waterfront and to explore the diverse communities from Greenpoint to East New York.

You have supported BGI and the Greenway for many years. Why is the Greenway important to you?
The Greenway is not only a mobility tool, but is an economic driver with businesses being supported by the thousands of riders who utilize the Greenway each day. We need to make sure that the popularity of Brooklyn’s waterfront means prosperity for all. Providing an important piece of infrastructure not only creates safer ways for employees to commute to work affordably but also ensures that small businesses dotting the waterfront have multiple ways for customers to access their products and offerings.

If you had a magic wand, what progress would you like to see on the Greenway in the next two years?
It’s all about building out connections. We need to fully connect Brooklyn’s waterfront communities through the Greenway and this means getting serious about fully funding an expansion of the Greenway through the southern portions of Brooklyn and into Queens. But it also means connecting the upland communities through street safety investments to ensure that local business improvement districts and merchants associations connect users of the Greenway to local business. These investments will be substantial. I’ve committed capital funding to support this expansion in the past and will also work to do so in the future, but it is a shared responsibility for all who believe in fully connecting Brooklyn’s neighborhoods.

2019 HONOREE STEVE HINDY

Steve Hindy, co-founder and chairman of The Brooklyn Brewery, is a former Middle East Correspondent for The Associated Press. He is a longtime member and past chairman of the board of directors of the Brewers Association, and served as a board member of the Beer Institute, the large brewers’ trade group. He is the co-author of Beer School along with co-founder Tom Potter, and author of The Craft Beer Revolution, an insider’s look at the stunning growth of American craft beer.

He has contributed to The New York Times, Vice Media, CNN, and numerous other publications, as well as appearing on television and online videos. Steve also serves on the boards of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Alliance, the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, and is chairman of the board of Transportation Alternatives.

Why is the Greenway important to Brooklyn?
Brooklyn is a patchwork of ethnic and religious communities. The Greenway connects these communities; it brings Brooklyners together.

You have supported BGI and the Greenway for many years. Why is the Greenway important to you?
Brooklyn Brewery shunned advertising in favor of supporting organizations that improve Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is one of the best!

What is your favorite memory on the Greenway?
Biking along Jamaica Bay. Wow! I had never seen this before.

If you had a magic wand, what progress would you like to see on the Greenway in the next two years?
I would love to see those last eight miles of the Greenway completed! [BGI: Greenway gaps remain in Red Hook, DUMBO, Sunset Park, and from Gravesend to Sheepshead Bay.]

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