Vernon Avenue Bridge (demolished in 1954)
Source: Novelty Theater
It’s not exactly new news, but Gothamist has a piece up on the proposed mega-development at the top of Greenpoint. Not news because what’s proposed is exactly what the city approved in the 2005 waterfront rezoning. Aside from the proposed bridge to Hunters Point, the only real news is that it has taken so long for development to happen on the Greenpoint waterfront. No one has broken ground yet, but this is one of four projects that are actively in the pipeline. Taken together, these four projects would transform the north Greenpoint waterfront from Java Street to Commercial Street. (The same fate is in store for the southern part of the Greenpoint waterfront – why the northern projects are further along is a mystery to me.)
As for the bridge – connecting West Street to 2nd Street in Hunters Point South – it would be great to reconnect these two neighborhoods, but I’d much rather see it done the old fashioned way, running from Manhattan Avenue to Vernon Boulevard in Hunters Point. In addition to replacing an ages-old connection, a bridge at Manhattan Avenue would have the benefit of connecting two neighborhoods, not two developments.
2 responses to “Greenpoint Developer Wants to Build 10 Huge Towers, Giant Bridge”
Locating the bridge at the end of Manhattan Ave would turn that street into a much less pleasant thoroughfare along the lines of Grand Street or Metropolitan Ave, or even McGuinness Blvd. There’s plenty of traffic on Manhattan already; turning it into a bridge connector would destroy much of its still-developing ambiance and commerce. We don’t need more cars usng Greenpoint as a shortcut to Queens, we need more public transit, bikes and pedestrian-friendly streets.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear, but I’ve always thought that this should be a pedestrian bridge. Perhaps a public transit connector, but not a car bridge (I think auto traffic would be difficult, given the location of the LIRR tracks on the Hunters Point side of the Creek. (I have no information, but I’m sort of assuming that the developer’s proposed bridge – a bit of a pipe dream in and of itself – is not meant for auto traffic either.)