Brooklyn Heights Promenade gardeners improve beauty and safety of historic walkway

August 15, 2023 Mary Frost

From left: PGC volunteers Robin Klor and Koren Volk, and NYC Parks Gardener Anil Chandrakumar hard at work on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade Gardens on Tuesday morning. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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The Brooklyn Heights Association’s Promenade Gardens Conservancy has long been lauded for its role in lovingly maintaining the gardens along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a historic walkway a third of a mile long.

Now, in light of recent violence on the Promenade, the group is also helping to make the walkway safer.

On the afternoon of Aug. 1, an unidentified man brutally slashed the hand of a 21-year-old man sitting in the oval area at the northernmost end of the Promenade. Police are still investigating, and are asking residents to keep their eyes open.

Several visitors to the Promenade told the Brooklyn Eagle that prior to the slashing, someone had threatened them while they were sitting in the oval, a secluded area which has recently been used as a camp site by homeless persons.

Beautiful flowers in bloom along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, under the stewardship of the Promenade Gardeners Conservancy. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

The Promenade Gardeners, under the guidance of NYC Parks Department Gardener Anil Chandrakumar, meet every Tuesday morning to pull weeds, plant and mulch. On Aug. 8, the gardeners decided to take improving the safety of the Promenade into their own hands, and got to work pruning away the leafy tree branches that blocked the view of the oval from above.

“I thought I should highlight the changes Anil and the volunteers made to the north end of the Promenade last Tuesday,” Promenade Garden Conservancy Project Manager Koren Volk told the Eagle. “It has improved sightlines and brought more light into that space, which will hopefully help keep folks safer.”

Before: Before and after photos show the pruning away of the leafy tree branches that blocked the view of the secluded Promenade oval from above. Photos courtesy of Anil Chandrakumar, NYC Parks Department

After: Before and after photos show the pruning away of the leafy tree branches that blocked the view of the secluded Promenade oval from above. Photos courtesy of Anil Chandrakumar, NYC Parks Department

This Tuesday, volunteers were once again working on the gardens, pulling weeds and using a pole saw to remove nasty honey locust thorns. (Volk sent this paper before and after photos of their accomplishment.)

The gardeners have expanded their beautification activities to the gardens around Cadman Plaza Park and Brooklyn Borough Hall, where their handiwork can be seen and appreciated in stunning displays this summer.

If you’d like to get involved with the Promenade Gardeners, email the PGC at [email protected]. For information about the Cadman Park Conservancy, email [email protected].