The Brooklyn Queens Expressway was originally proposed by
the Regional Plan Association in the mid-1930s to mitigate traffic congestion,
facilitate industrial development, and strengthen the connection between the
boroughs of New York City.
Robert Moses, as chair of the Tri-BoroughBridge and Tunnel Authority, charted
its path through Queens and Brooklyn. The
construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway divided the existing brownstone
neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, CarrollGardens, and Red Hook
with a 6-lane highway.
This proposal developed strategies to reconnect these neighborhoods and
adjacent landscape infrastructure and ameliorate environmental impacts. The
resulting plan works to improve environmental and economic vitality in a first
phase through the addition of green walls and street trees. The ultimate
realization of the proposal would be a new park constructed over the BQE that
reconnects these separated neighborhoods and provides recreational space for
this park-poor area. In a hybrid strategy that utilizes concepts of Jane Jacobs
and Robert Moses, the design proposes areas of up-zoning at street crossing
corners, with neighborhood commercial activity at the ground floor and
residential units above.
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