Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway
For over twenty years, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative has been the catalyst to the planning and completion of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway by building popular support that resulted in NYC government’s adoption of the 2012 implementation plan. Now standing at 22 miles, the planned 29-mile protected and landscaped route for pedestrians and cyclists will connect the neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces of Brooklyn’s storied and iconic waterfront from Greenpoint to East New York.
High-level Studies
The development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is shaped by two high-level studies:
Shore Parkway Greenway Master Plan (2005, Department of City Planning) seeks to close what was then a 4.5 mile gap through southern Brooklyn in the 11 miles of greenway built in the 1950s alongside the Belt Parkway
Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Implementation Plan (2012, Department of Transportation) seeks to establish a 14-mile greenway along the northern and western Brooklyn waterfront. NYC DOT’s implementation plan adopted as a goal of city government elements of plans developed and championed by Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Regional Plan Association, and more.
From these two plans, projects totaling 11 miles have been implemented since 2004, bringing the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway up to 22 miles complete out of 29.
Three greenway typologies
The 22 miles of completed greenway takes on three main forms:
Urban park trail (off-street) – either a single shared-use path for both pedestrians and cyclits, or two distinct paths for each to minimize conflicts in the linear space. All 11 legacy miles built with the Belt Parkway are classified this way, along with the greenway that meanders through Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Landscaped and/or grade-separated – the bike and pedestrian paths are adjacent to the street grid and connect parks, waterfront access, job centers, and neighborhoods. Both the walkway and bike path are raised above the street, and are frequently accompianed by trees, shrubbery, and other flora.
Protected bike lane with sidewalk – connecting urban trails and grade-separated paths, parking-protected “Class 1” bike lanes provide low-stress corridors that can be implemented in a few weeks, and can serve as an interim step to landscaped paths that take years to develop.
Project Timeline
1950s
- 11 miles of greenway are built in two separate sections along the Belt Parkway with funds from Robert Moses’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
2004
- In reaction to plans by NYC Department of Transportation to increase freight truck throughput on Columbia Street, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is founded to champion the development of a 14-mile waterfront greenway connecting Greenpoint with the Shore Parkway Greenway in Bay Ridge
2005
- NYC Department of City Planning releases Shore Parkway Greenway Master Plan to complete 4.5 missing miles of greenway to connect sections on the southern Brooklyn waterfront completed
2012
- NYC Department of Transportation releases the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Implementation Plan, adopting as a city government goal the development of a 14-mile greenway along the north and western Brooklyn waterfront
2019
- After almost 15 years, the first progress towards the Shore Parkway Greenway Master Plan is made with the establishment of a one-mile long protected bike lane connecting the previous end of the Shore Parkway Greenway to Six Diamonds Park near Coney Island Creek
2020
- The project to upgrade the protected bike lane on Kent Avenue along the Brooklyn Navy Yard to a landscaped and grade-separated path is complete
2021
- The landscaped and grade-separated path along the Flushing Avenue perimeter of the Navy Yard is almost fully complete by the end of the year, over ten years after the plans were originally proposed by NYC DOT.
2022
- The ribbon is cut on a landscaped, grade-separated path on Second Avenue along Brooklyn Army Terminal. Along with a one-block connector completed two years earlier on Wakeman Place, the highway overpasses separating Sunset Park and Bay Ridge are bypassed
- A long-sought protected bike lane is established on Emmons Avenue along the Sheepshead Bay waterfront