Saturday Protest To Demand New Plan For BK Heights Promenade

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Protestors will take to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on Saturday morning to demand the city come up with a plan to fix the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that doesn't shut down the famous walkway.

The rally will begin at 11 a.m. at the Pierrepont Street entrance and is hosted by A Better Way, the Brooklyn Heights Association and various elected officials.

Organizers hope the protest will make city officials reconsider the Department of Transportation's preferred method for fixing the BQE, which would cost the Promenade for up to six years and build a temporary six-lane elevated highway in its place.

"Tomorrow may be chilly, but our blood runs hot at the prospect of DOT’s 6-lane highway on the Promenade and its horrendous noise and pollutants," the Brooklyn Heights Association wrote. "A large turnout is critical to showing Mayor de Blasio, our elected officials, DOT, the media, and the general public that there is No Way that we will accept this absurd solution."

The rally comes days after the Brooklyn Heights Association sent a letter to DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg asking that officials follow in the lead of the MTA, which recently announced that it would accept a new approach to fixing the Canarsie tunnel that won't shut down the L train.

The letter outlines the similarities between the two projects in order to ask DOT to re-think its current plans.

The Brooklyn Heights Association also recently presented its own alternative to the plans, developed by local architects, urban planners and engineers hired by the organization.

Saturday's protest will be joined by city Comptroller Scott Stringer, state Sen. Brian Kavanaugh, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Councilman Stephen Levin. A press conference is expected.

The BHA has asked protesters to distribute the color or black and white flyer about the event. The organization will distribute signs at the rally.

"The image of those signs and a dense crowd will convey our clear message," the organization said. "Promenade Highway? NO WAY!"

Photo by Katherine Belsey, with the BHA.