Frustration is mounting in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, as a pedestrian bridge reconstruction project drags years behind its scheduled completion. The 17th Avenue pedestrian bridge, which provided a key access point over the Belt Parkway, was initially closed for reconstruction in 2021 and dismantled the following year. However, residents now face a lengthy detour to reach the waterfront, sparking concerns and dissatisfaction within the community.
"It's pathetic, and you can't get any answers out of anybody. All you get is a bunch of garbage," Mike Smollar told CBS News New York in an expression of the general sentiment. A community that is among the "top five community districts with the lowest percentage of open space," as Marnee Elias-Pavia, district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 11, highlighted, the bridge's absence is deeply felt.
Local officials and residents are voicing their frustration alike. Brooklyn Community Board 11 has even filed a Freedom of Information Act request in search of clarity behind the project's delays. Community Board 11 chair Laurie Windsor admitted to CBS News New York, "We didn't feel that we had a clear-cut answer to give to the community... And we didn't understand why." Meanwhile, City Councilmember Justin Brannan acknowledged to CBS News New York that the construction has become an "old-fashioned boondoggle."
While the New York City Department of Transportation has cited safety concerns, pandemic-related impacts, issues with steel fabrication, and unforeseen complications related to underground utilities as causes for the delay, community members remain skeptical about the project's trajectory. "You can work here 24/7 from now until the end of the year," a disheartened Smollar noted to CBS News New York, "It's not getting done." Similarly, News 12 learned from a source that the setbacks were initially due to COVID, further compounded by issues with buried utilities.
Despite these reassurances, residents express doubt. Anthony Malone, a local, sarcastically told News 12 Long Island, "The joke is that we'll never be alive to even walk the bridge by the time they're even finished." The DOT maintains that work is advancing and expects completion by the end of the year, but residents like Alicia Valentin feel it's akin to "believing in Santa Claus," as told to News 12 Long Island.
Until the bridge is completed, community members face an inconvenient reality: increased walking times to reach nearby parks and the waterfront, testing the patience and challenging the daily routines of those who once relied on what was a simple crossing.
