$5.6 M in federal Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) funds will help the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) reduce environmental burdens on the disproportionately affected communities of Williamsburg and Sunset Park. The funds, announced by U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on March 12, will support the New York City Department of Transportation’s BQE Connects project which will help campaigns already in action like BQGreen and BQE North and South Corridor Vision.
Both of these movements aim to add more green space surrounding the BQE. BQGreen hopes to create a park by extending a concrete platform over part of the BQE that runs below street level in Williamsburg between S. 3rd and S. 5th streets. BQE North and South Corridor Vision wants to implement more parks they refer to as Green Connectors.
The original champion of BQGreen was Diana Reyna, former deputy borough president of Brooklyn and former NYC council member of District 34. Another early champion of the project was Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. At a 2017 rally near the proposed park’s site, Reyna, Reynoso, and other elected officials called for a park to clear the air.
“The BQE has tormented Brooklynites for far too long, cutting our communities in two, polluting our air with toxic emissions, and clogging our streets with dangerous truck traffic. The whole expressway must be rethought from top to bottom, and grants like this are essential to having the meaningful conversations that will aid our neighborhoods in revisioning the corridor,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in acknowledgement of the NAE funds. “I’m grateful that the U.S. Department of Transportation has recognized the hard work of residents who have for decades organized to end the harmful legacy of Robert Moses’ BQE, but this can only be the beginning. I look forward to what I hope to be a long and effective partnership across our city, state, and federal governments to address the BQE once and for all.”
Reynoso joined U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez, NYS Senator Kristen Gonzalez, NYC Council Members Lincoln Restler and Jennifer Gutiérrez, and community organizations: St. Nicks Alliance, Southside United HDFC – Los Sures, and El Puente in June 2023 to call for Governor Kathy Hochul and New York State to advance BQGreen.
BQGreen will integrate two existing parks adjacent to the BQE. The 3.5-acre design includes a flower garden, a baseball diamond, grassy and wooded areas, a playground, an indoor pool, and barbecues. The park will promote the health of current and future residents with greenery that will absorb freeway noise and dirty air. Other cities including Texas and Seattle have built similar parks.
“I’m pleased the BQE received @USDOT‘s Reconnecting Communities planning grant for $5.6M. This will identify 2 projects to remedy harms caused by the highway. The BQE cuts through the heart of our communities & we need to reimagine it to center climate, economic & racial justice,” NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler posted on X following the funding announcement for BQE Connects.
The need for more parkland in Brooklyn Community District 1 was named a top priority for Fiscal Year 2024. The district ranks 48 out of all 59 districts, with only five percent of the total parkland.
“It’s long past time to advance a bold, holistic vision for the entire BQE corridor that transforms it from a polluting ‘asthma alley’ to one that sustainably moves people and goods, increases public space, strengthens our economy, and connects our communities. We’re grateful to the Biden Administration for recognizing our long-standing concerns and awarding New York this grant, and we look forward to partnering across all levels of government to ensure mobility justice and better health outcomes for all who live along the BQE,” said U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez; Congressman Dan Goldman; NYS Senators Andrew Gounardes, Kristen Gonzalez, and Julia Salazar; NYS Assembly Members Jo Anne Simon, Emily Gallagher, Maritza Davila, Robert Carroll, Phara Souffrant Forrest, and Marcela Mitaynes; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; and NYC Council Members Lincoln Restler, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Shahana Hanif, Alexa Avilés and Justin Brannan in a joint statement.
See the complete statement here: https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/andrew-gounardes/brooklyn-lawmakers-celebrate-usdots-56m-reconnecting
The Greenline 