3. Gravelgate – Parts 1 & 2
It seems that whenever the park lays down a new pathway surface, something goes wrong. In 2010, the initial work on the walkways at Pier 1 drew criticism from many who complained of the dust and hard to navigate loose gravel. In the video above BHB’s Karl Junkersfeld cleared up some of the confusion about how the pathways would eventually settle — you can see that is pretty much the case on any walk in that area today.
However, BHB contributor/attorney/Brooklyn Heights resident T.K. Small did have a legitimate beef at the time telling the NY Daily News that navigating the newly minted surface in his motorized wheelchair was “slow and tedious.”
Flashforward to this past May, when Small ran into more difficulty on a park pathway near the art installation Dahn Vo: We the People at Pier 3. In a dispatch to park brass, Small said:
Apparently, in preparation for adding more of the dreaded “chip seal”, the park put down a layer of sticky tar, but didn’t complete the job of actually adding the surface material. Consequently, you have left to the public a smelly and sticky mess, which is now all over my wheelchair tires and ruining my carpet. In short, my apartment smells like a tar pit and it will take days to clean up this mess. This is not acceptable!
Within a few hours, the park had reached out to Small and his wheels were scraped and cleaned.
