The Brooklyn Heights Association has sent us an update on efforts to have the City’s Department of Transportation to pursue alternatives to replacing the Brooklyn Heights Promenade for a period of at least six years with a temporary elevated six lane highway carrying heavy truck and auto traffic. The BHA has worked with Save the Promenade, now renamed A Better Way NYC, to “submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIL) Requests to DOT this week to gain access to information that will help us persuade the City that the Promenade Highway makes no sense and alternatives can be devised that will be far preferable.” A meeting scheduled between the BHA and DOT has been postponed to allow DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and local elected officials to attend. “The BHA also met with [State] Senator [Brian] Kavanagh and Assemblymember [Jo Anne] Simon last week, and Councilmember [Stephen] Levin the week before, to apprise them of our activities, discuss alternative solutions, and explore what role the State and other agencies can and should play.”
The BHA is “looking for and speaking with various technical consultants who can contribute to our efforts to evaluate other options and to assist in the analysis of environmental concerns.” If you wish to assist in this effort, as well as in The BHA’s overall campaign to oppose the highway, you may donate to the BHA’s BQE Fund here. You do not have to be a BHA member to donate.
The BHA has made posters opposing the highway plan which are free and available at the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange, 55 Pierrepont Street. In addition to the extensive media coverage this issue has already received, there will be a story in the Wall Street Journal on November 6.
