They specifically demanded a comprehensive, corridor-wide transformation of the BQE, which would require the participation of the state and federal government, and called for the immediate suspension of NYC Department of Transportation’s ongoing plans to rebuild the cantilever section.

They also back the implementation of “shovel-ready” community-led plans such as the BQGreen in Williamsburg and Sunset Park Greenway-Blueway.

Any BQE planning “must run through this coalition,” Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said, noting that he was not the coalition’s leader but just another member. “Growing up in Williamsburg, I know firsthand the wounds that the BQE has left behind in Brooklyn. I also know the incredible organizing power found up and down the corridor.

Avilés puts Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams on notice

The communities in the coalition “have been fighting environmental injustice for decades,” Councilmember Alexa Avilés (D-Red Hook, Sunset Park) said. The highway infrastructure was originally run through disadvantaged neighborhoods “to make it convenient for wealthy suburban commuters.”

“If you’re not listening Gov. Hochul, Mayor Adams, we’re not going anywhere. We demand a just way, not the highway,” Avilés said.

“Robert Moses didn’t plan, the city didn’t plan, they just built,” said Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon. “If you were in the way, too bad. Well we are the people in the way. We need to be at the table.”

‘Racist infrastructure’

Councilmember Lincoln Restler called the BQE “racist infrastructure,” noting that he had a very different experience of the BQE when growing up in Brooklyn Heights than Reynoso did. Reynoso grew up in Black, Latino and Orthodox Jewish South Williamsburg, where the expressway slices through the middle of the neighborhood. 

“Now, Mayor Adams is talking about expanding the number of lanes. This would add six million additional cars and trucks every year. That’s governmental malpractice,” Restler said. “We demand a comprehensive plan. It’s not just the Brooklyn Heights corridor, it’s the whole BQE corridor.”

Kevin Garcia, senior transportation planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, agreed. “We need a comprehensive plan that centers racial and climate justice for the corridor to ensure we do not repeat history.”

Coalition brings disparate groups together

“The BQE-EJC represents a rare coming together of diverse communities and neighborhoods,” said Lara Birnback, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association. “What unites us is our plea for the city and state to seize this exceptional opportunity and rethink mobility to meet our public health, climate and economic development goals. 

“Today, we’re calling on New York City and New York State to immediately initiate a corridor-wide, holistic, and community-led planning process for the entire BQE that prioritizes public health, climate resilience, investments in transit and sustainable freight delivery, and fundamentally puts people first,” Birnback added.

Amy Breedlove of the Cobble Hill Association spoke about the trench dividing the neighborhood south of BQE Central. “Our community and the other communities along the Cobble Hill trench feel the daily impacts of traffic congestion including health and safety problems —  accidents, unsafe pedestrian access and crossings, air pollution.”  The group has had its areas of disagreement with its neighbors, but this issue brought them together, she said.

‘I have my inhaler here’

El Puene’s Raísa Lin Garden-Lucerna recalled her childhood growing up on the south side of Williamsburg. “Kids at the gym during recess couldn’t play unless they had their inhalers,” she said. “Williamsburg is ranked third out of 59 neighborhoods with asthma. There’s a lack of greenery and open spaces.”

“It’s too late for me. After two COVIDs and asthma I carry an inhaler wherever I go,” she said. A project like BQGreen, however, would “repair the wound the BQE left on our communities.”

Carlos Calzadilla, district director for state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, called the BQE issue an environmental justice and racial justice issue. “This is called ‘Asthma Alley’ for a reason,” he said. “I have my inhaler here, like so many … This is immoral.”

He added, “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity offered by President Joe Biden‘s infrastructure plan, and it should be shaped by the communities. Let’s get this done.”

Quincy Phillips from Red Hook Initiative said the organization had surveyed from 400 to 500 residents on their feeling about the BQE, which surrounds the neighborhood. The words “scared,” “anxious” and “paranoid” were most often repeated, he said. 

City forgot the ‘Q’ in the BQE

Elaine O’Brien  from the Queens Climate Project said that densely-populated neighborhoods in Queens, like Woodside and Sunnyside, were also negatively impacted by the BQE, yet Queens communities were not included by the city in the conversation about the highway.

“We are the ‘Q’ in BQE!” she said. “It was not until we were contacted by Maria from El Puente [Maria F. Pulido-Velosa] that we heard about the city’s plans.” She added, “The billions of dollars the city plans to spend expanding the BQE will only inflict more damage on our communities.”

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