Route of today’s walk, courtesy Google Maps.
WHERE: The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway
START: Broadway and Bedford Avenue (B62 bus)
FINISH: Flushing Avenue and Clermont Avenue (B69 bus)
DISTANCE: 1.9 miles (3.1 kilometers)
Photographs by Michael Cairl.
Brooklyn’s waterfront along the East River and Upper New York Bay was, until fairly recent times, given over to docks and industry. As such, very little of it was accessible to the general public. This remained the case even after the docks and waterfront became largely quiet.. In 1966 the U.S. Navy closed the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where many warships were built, including the battleships Arizona and Missouri, idling many thousands of shipyard workers. Environmental advocate Milton Puryear had a vision to make the waterfront accessible to the communities abutting it. In 2003 he and two other activists, Brian McCormick and Meg Fellerath, founded the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) to connect the waterfront to the communities along it and to create a 14-mile bicycle and pedestrian path linking these communities, from Greenpoint in the north of Brooklyn to Bay Ridge, just north of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. In 2021 a significant amount of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is complete in either final or interim form, and it has become a major resource for transportation and recreation. BGI has expanded the scope of the Greenway to continue along the Narrows, through Coney Island, along Jamaica Bay almost to JFK Airport, and across Jamaica Bay to the Rockaway Peninsula, a total of more than 30 miles. Learn more about this outstanding organization and the Greenway at https://www.brooklyngreenway.org/.
I was a member of BGI’s Board of Directors from 2008 - 2021 and the Board Chair from 2013 - 2019, and saw the waterfront evolve with new residential development and park land, the Brooklyn Navy Yard re-imagined as a cluster of high-tech and artisanal industry (and yes, ship repair), Brooklyn Bridge Park coming into being where docks used to be south of the Brooklyn Bridge, Industry City and neighboring Bush Terminal following a similar path as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and communities up and down the waterfront finally being able to enjoy it. As a cyclist I’ve biked the entire 30-plus-mile Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway many times; now, since the stroke, I am walking the Greenway with the goal of covering its entire length on foot to get a sense of a pedestrian’s experience of the Greenway and its accessibility.
Today I did my third Greenway walk, even though this is the first time I’m writing about it on this site. To recap the previous two walks: the first started in Long Island City, Queens, and along the northern part of the Greenway in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The second walk was a shorter walk wholly within Williamsburg.
Maps of the first and second Greenway walks, courtesy Google Maps.
Some views from the first two Greenway walks: two views of the Greenway on West Street in Greenpoint (bike lane is painted green), crossfit gym on Franklin Street, Brooklyn Greenway roundel with unofficial smiley face (I like it) on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, two views of the Williamsburg Bridge.
On today’s walk I picked up where I left off on the second walk. Twenty years ago, the westernmost blocks of Broadway were run down with few people around except for those going to the landmark Peter Luger’s Steak House. Now, the same blocks have cafes, bars, new residential buildings, and Peter Luger’s. Twenty years ago, Kent Avenue, running parallel to the waterfront, had a lot of truck traffic on weekdays but was deserted on weekends, making for easy bike riding. Hardly anyone lived on Kent Avenue. Today, nearly all the new waterfront development is centered on Kent Avenue. For an excellent look at what Kent Avenue was, and was becoming early in its redevelopment, go to https://forgotten-ny.com/2009/01/i-kent-explain-a-brooklyn-waterfront-avenue/.
Clockwise from upper left: Broadway, looking east from near Kent Avenue; view from the foot of Division Avenue (this could become a small park!); two views of the Greenway along Kent Avenue, with the Brooklyn Navy Yard at right.
Proposed car-free zone on Kent Avenue. Map courtesy Google Maps.
North of Division Avenue, Kent Avenue is much narrower than it is to the south. The sidewalks are narrow and there’s a very busy two-way bike path on the west side of the street,. There isn’t enough room for pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks, and city buses. I would like to see Kent Avenue closed to motor vehicles except emergency vehicles and small delivery trucks, year round, from Broadway to Bushwick Inlet Park (solid blue line on map). Making this street a full-time pedestrian mall, similar to Rue Ste-Catherine in Montréal, would create a safer, more accessible situation for pedestrians and cyclists. It could become a second showpiece for the Greenway; I’ll discuss the first shortly.
Between Division Avenue and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278), Kent Avenue is wide enough to accommodate two travel lanes, left-turn lanes, car parking, and a wide bike path that is separated from a wide sidewalk by native plantings. Disused marine containers stacked three high form an unexpectedly attractive wall that pays homage to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the other side.
Running parallel to the expressway is Williamsburgh Street West, where the Greenway consists of a sidewalk and a bike lane separated from car traffic by concrete “Jersey barriers.” A short distance along is a real gem, the Naval Cemetery Landscape.
From the 1830s until World War II a naval hospital occupied the southeast corner of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. When the hospital was moved to Queens many of the remains in the hospital cemetery were disinterred and moved elsewhere. Some remains were thought still to be there decades later. BGI obtained an agreement with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to transform the former cemetery site into a contemplative space and secured funding from a private foundation for this. The Naval Cemetery Landscape is stunning, a peaceful oasis, a fitting memorial to those who served in the Navy and died in the hospital. It has also become a green space for a diverse community that sorely lacks green space. I have often said that the Naval Cemetery Landscape is the best part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, making the Greenway more than just a ribbon of asphalt. The site is filled with native, non-invasive plants that BGI co-founder Milton Puryear championed. Read more about the history and design of the Naval Cemetery Landscape at https://www.brooklyngreenway.org/naval-cemetery-landscape/history-and-design/.
Some views of the Naval Cemetery Landscape.