Plans Proposed for New Park on Top of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

Plans for a new park that will reconnect South Williamsburg neighborhoods, currently divided due to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), are being revisted.

Councilmen Antonio Reynoso and Mark Levine are finding the means to secure millions in funding to build a park that could come in at $100 million. Thoughts for a park in this spot have been in talks for some time.

The park would span from South Third to South Fifth Streets. Currently, the small parks where the kids play at the edges of town are deemed unsafe due to the heavy fumes that come from the heavy traffic on the BQE day in and out. “We’re not just asking for a park for the sake of a park. This community has been deprived of real parkland for a long time,” Reynoso told The Gothamist.

The new park would revamp those now on the edges of the BQE trench and will feature a baseball field, a pool, areas for cookouts, and wooded sections. In addition, ventilation systems would be put in place to eliminate much of the harmful automotive fumes.

This South Williamsburg area is growing in population and the park would help bring the now parted community together. At this time, some funding is said to come from the Parks Department, which sets aside money for renovations and new park development like this. More money is being asked from the city and state transportation authorities.

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