Only several miles of the Brooklyn Greenway are in place, but work is underway to create the full 14-mile stretch in an environmentally sustainable way. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.
When the Brooklyn Greenway is complete, it will run 14 miles, mostly along the East River waterfront. With the area prone to flooding and sewage overflow, though planners want to make the greenway more green.
"Streets are going to be ripped up across 14 miles of Brooklyn's waterfront at the lowest contours of those East River watersheds," said Milton Puryear, co-founder of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. "When we thought it about it, we said to ourselves, it would be a shame 20 years from now to look back and say, 'Oh, I wish we had put in green infrastructure.'"
The project begins on West Street in Greenpoint, where an infrastructure system of catch basins, filters and other environmentally friendly tools are being put in place to manage excess storm water.
"When it's making its way into the East River, it's there clean," said Tricia Martin, principal with WE Design. "It's been filtered through a series of planted systems, as opposed to that water that usually makes its way to the East River through combined sewer overflows, where that water is quite filthy."
Officials released a study Tuesday detailing designs and guidelines for the resiliency project. The study was sponsored by The New York State Environmental Protection Fund and the Brooklyn borough president.
"It's a concern of all Brooklynites, particularly after Hurricane Sandy," said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
While many agencies are involved, the bulk of the work is being done by the Department of Transportation in phases, and funding has been secured for some segments. Greenpoint is the northernmost end of the greenway, an area that is prone to water backups.
"In that low valley area of Greenpoint, all of the excess storm water that's happening there during storms, it's running off, it's pooling, it's pouring into the sewage treatment plant," said Teresa Toro, outreach coordinator with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
The plan is to put the infrastructure in place throughout the entire greenway corridor, which stretches to Sunset Park, at a cost of more than $100 million.