The Promenade Garden Conservancy will hold its ever-popular bake sale (photo, by Mrs. Fink, shows goods on sale at the May 2013 event) tomorrow (Saturday, November 15) on the Promenade near the Montague Street entrance from 9:30 a.m. to noon, or “until the last crumb is sold.” The Conservancy is a public-private partnership between the Brooklyn Heights Association and the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation. All proceeds from the sale will be used for upkeep of the gardens.

My contact at DPR thought that the Capital Projects contractor would recommence next week. The work stopped because the scope of work exceeded original assessments meaning that the void underneath the path which is the cause of the sinkhole was/is larger than they knew. DPR believes this to be caused by loose fill from the original construction of the Promenade. The scope work has therefore been redesigned, causing the delay. A unique condition also pertains to this in that the adjacent building (160 Columbia Heights) shares some of the Promenade’s foundation problems resulting in a private/public coordination of contractors.

The short version of the above is that the DPR is “on it”, but being “on it” has involved more work than anticipated by them and coordinating with private work next door. I hope people will be patient with the DPR (they deserve our support, given the cuts to their budgets), while we adjust to using other paths to the Promenade until the repair is complete. I have no end date. Truthfully, given that the rest of the Promenade was built the same way, we should be glad that there are not more sinkholes elsewhere on other walkways while the NYS and US Transportation Departments come to conclusions on the future rehabilitation of the BQE!