Update (September 2024)
Over the past few years, NCA has worked closely with NYC DEP, Council Member Lincoln Restler, and Evergreen Exchange to advance the Gateway to Greenpoint project in light of COVID related budget cuts and spending priorities. In addition to $175,000 allocated under Council Member Steve Levin in 2019, Council Member Restler allocated $350,000 through participatory budgeting in 2022.
In January 2024, NYC DEP presented a revised plan for the project to Brooklyn Community Board 1, which received approval with modifications. The Public Design Commission then also reviewed and approved the plan in April 2024. NCA has supported the revised Gateway to Greenpoint plan, which now includes a major underground stormwater retention component, while continuing to push for increased planted areas and larger public entrances. We are very grateful for NYC DEP’s commitment to this project and many years of review and discussion with community stakeholders. We are also very appreciative to all of the project supporters including Council Member Levin for his initial funding of the project, Council Member Restler for addition funding and his continued advocacy for the project over many years, and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez for a recent allocation of $500,000 for the project. We look forward to a potential groundbreaking in 2025!
Background (July 1st, 2019)
Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA), in partnership with Evergreen Exchange and Interval Projects, has completed a community-driven conceptual site plan to create public access and ecological benefit for the 12,000 square foot city-owned parcel at the corner of Greenpoint and Kingsland Avenues.
The Gateway to Greenpoint creates an entry point to adjacent open space projects, including the Kingsland Wildflowers green roof (completed in 2017), the Nature Walk (phases 2 and 3 scheduled for completion by 2021) and restoration along North Henry Street Public Basin (ongoing). The project provides a model for incorporating open space and ecological value in active industrial areas.
The design process for the Gateway to Greenpoint was guided by a series of workshops with community members and stakeholders, organized by NCA and Evergreen in 2018–2019. In these workshops, participants generated ideas for the use of the site, identified challenges presented by the current conditions in the neighborhood, and developed possible approaches to the design. The result is a public space that will address the needs and desires of the community, including Greenpoint residents, local business owners, and workers in the neighborhood. The final design allows DEP to move forward in developing the site as has been long promised to the community and we look forward to working with all project partners and stakeholders to make the project a reality.
View the Gateway to Greenpoint Booklet Here and Trifold Brochure Here.
The Gateway project was made possible with generous support from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund and the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Previous Project Materials:
+ See the March 5th Community Workshop presentation here.
+ See the three preliminary design schemes here.
+ See the November 2018 Kick-off Community Workshop summary here.