Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Project Picks Up More Support

May 2, 2005

Carroll Gardens / Cobble Hill Courier

By Charles Hack

With $18 million from the feds and a nod from the Community Board 6 Transportation Committee, the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway project moved a couple of steps closer to transforming several miles of inhospitable Red Hook coastline into a safe commute and recreational area for cyclists, walkers and joggers -- as far from speeding cars and trucks as possible.

Community Board 6's Transportation Committee recommended supporting an interim plan to connect sections of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway that would run from Division Avenue in South Williamsburg to Gowanus Canal.

And Rep. Nydia Velazquez included $18 million over six years for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway in a House bill, under the Transportation Equity Act. Of that sum, $4.4 million is for Red Hook and the remainder includes Greenpoint and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

"The fact that Congresswoman Velazquez has, simultaneously with the completion of the plan, come up with a funding source is a fantastic opportunity for the neighborhood," said William Blum, co-chair of the Community Board 6 Transportation Committee at the April meeting, held in the lobby of Independence Community Bank, on Lorraine and Columbia streets.

Beyond the interim plan, the Greenway Initiative would use the funding to construct key segments of the permanent Greenway and get 90 percent of the route off-road within six years, said Milton Puryear, co-chairman and director of planning for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. Construction might start in one to two years, he said.

The Board was considering the 10-mile stretch of the Greenway that also affects Community Board 2. The section also includes off-street pathways up to 30 feet wide, striped bike lanes, and stretches along Franklin and Kent avenues that are needed to connect the trail.

Signs will point out the pathway to cyclists and pedestrians. The rules for using the Greenway will also be posted every 100 yards to reinforce safety.

The complete 14-mile Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway will provide views of the Manhattan skyline, the harbor and Lady Liberty, from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. It would also pass through Community Boards 1 and 7, and connect the Queens Waterfront Greenway at one end to Brooklyn's Shore Parkway Esplanade at the other.

"The plan is thoroughly researched and well presented with a huge amount of community input," said Blum. "It reflects where the community would like to go in terms of having this facility for the neighborhood."

The committee voted to recommend the approval of the interim plan, subject to having continuing input in the project's execution.

"I am looking forward to the implementation over the course of the next few years," Blum said, "both on an interim basis and a permanent basis."

Greenways are designed to create a safe landscaped off-street path, which cyclists share with other non-vehicular traffic, such as pedestrians, runners and in-line skaters.

Red Hook, which lacks public transportation, has approximately 35,000 commuters to lower Manhattan. Planners hope the Greenway will provide an alternative to driving and integrate waterfront communities that are now separated by buildings and major roads.

Puryear pointed out that the recently completed Hudson River Greenway has 14,000 visitors each day.

"The Greenway is an opportunity for the people of Brooklyn to fulfill some of their needs for healthy recreation," said Milton Puryear of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, the non-profit charged with creating the plan.

"It's something we have been waiting for a long time," said Blum. "The Board endorsed the concept of the waterfront trail over 10 years ago."

The planning of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway began in 1993, when the Department of City Planning identified it as part of 350 miles of proposed Greenways in New York.

"The progress was slow at first," said Blum, but this was changing as the Port Authority had agreed to give up space on Columbia Street, and a new cruise ship port and new development in the south of Red Hook has been planned.

"The potential for change is much greater than it was," he said.

While it is easier to obtain funding for the interim pathway, the permanent Greenway will have to be funded in stages, Puryear said.

"I would be too big a single budget number to get this passed on one big budget project," Puryear said. "Our approach is to have it incorporated into every capital program."

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative must also secure rights of way through property controlled by agencies other than the city, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the Enterprise Development Corporation and private owners.

"There are a multiplicity of jurisdictions that require there be this constant dialogue," said Dalila Hall, a planner at the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner's Office. "To get everybody thinking about what their role is."

Not everyone was happy with the plan.

"They're putting it [Greenway] in a truck route," said Roger Rigolli, a Community Board 6 member, who also owns a Blue Ridge Tea and Herb Company on Woodhull Street. "I am basically concerned about the mixture between trucks and the bicycles."

"They put a bicycle lane on 5th Avenue, on both sides of the street," said Rigolli. "I don't think that's wise; there's cars that open doors, buses that pull out and trucks that double park."

He said that the Department of Transportation should be taking care of potholes, which are also dangerous to cyclists.

The Transportation Committee's recommendation will have to be approved at the Community Board 6 meeting on Wednesday, May 11.

William Blum, co-chair of the Community Board 6 Transportation Committee, hears testimony on Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway plan from Department of Transportation staff and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.