If the city repairs the triple cantilever under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, where do the cars and trucks go for the decade the work takes?
In 2018 the answer was the Promenade itself. The de Blasio administration proposed six temporary highway lanes directly on top of the walkway, then dropped the idea after the Brooklyn Heights Association organized against it, as Streetsblog recounted on October 1. The 2026 answer is different. The Draft Scope of Work that NYC DOT released on October 2 places the main temporary bypass in the Furman Street right-of-way, "below the promenade elevation." The Promenade stays where it is, and the pressure moves to Squibb Park, Hillside Dog Park, Harry Chapin Playground and a string of smaller spaces running north into DUMBO. The window to shape what the city studies about those places closes on November 23.
Under the railing, not on it
The project is called BQE Central. DOT describes it as rehabilitation, not a rebuild. The highway stays at two lanes, no interchanges change, and the deck, walls, joints, drainage, railings and lighting all get repaired. The agency estimates the cost at $3.5 billion to $4 billion. The city's Capital Plan currently holds $1.6 billion of that, and DOT expects the work to add about 40 years to the structure's life.
The Promenade is part of the structure being fixed. In its project FAQ, DOT says the Promenade "is part of the triple cantilever structure" and that the work is intended to "repair and protect" it. Traffic would run on two temporary structures. The first parallels the cantilever from just north of Atlantic Avenue to Columbia Heights, inside the Furman Street right-of-way. The second carries traffic from Columbia Heights, "potentially above the Brooklyn Bridge," through DUMBO, and rejoins the highway just west of the Manhattan Bridge. DOT says it would demolish both when the work is done. Construction is anticipated to start in 2029 and finish before 2040.
Some people who watched 2018 closely see more continuity than difference. Former DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman told a September 17 board meeting of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal corporation that the proposal "is exactly what crashed and burned in 2018," Streetsblog reported. The physical change is still easy to read on a map. The walkway above the cantilever keeps its role, and the temporary highway's footprint lands along Furman Street and at the north end of the neighborhood.
Where the footprint lands instead
DOT and the press describe the affected open spaces somewhat differently, so the table below attributes each statement to its source.
| Place | What DOT says | What Streetsblog reported on Oct. 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Heights Promenade | Access to portions "at all times during construction, to the extent feasible" | Bypass runs alongside the cantilever below it |
| Squibb Park | Access maintained "to the extent feasible" | Directly impacted |
| Hillside Dog Park | Access maintained "to the extent feasible" | Directly impacted |
| Harry Chapin Playground | Reconstructed along with the Columbia Heights overpass rehabilitation | Removed, later restored |
| Anchorage Plaza, Clumber Corner, Bar and Grill Park, Adam Yauch Park | Named in the draft scope's open-space study only as part of the wider area | Directly impacted |
| Brooklyn Bridge Park | "We are not planning for any impacts to Brooklyn Bridge Park through construction" | New structure would sit much closer to the park and to Furman Street |
The phrase that keeps recurring is "to the extent feasible." DOT's October 6 Q&A presentation applies it to the Promenade, Squibb Park, Hillside Dog Park and Harry Chapin Playground alike, and adds that open-space effects "will be studied through CEQR," the city's environmental review process.
Squibb Park also carries a legal weight the other spaces do not. According to the Brooklyn Downtown Star, the project would take a corner of it, which means the state legislature would have to pass a parkland alienation bill. DOT's own FAQ confirms that both state parkland alienation and the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure will be required. A City Record notice on September 30 also lists the City Planning Commission, the City Council, the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Public Design Commission among the bodies the project must clear, Streetsblog reported.
What the draft scope leaves for later
For someone who walks the Promenade every morning, the most important missing piece is a construction sequence. The draft scope does not say which stretches of the walkway would close, when, or for how long. It says a construction chapter in the later Draft Environmental Impact Statement will describe schedule, logistics, the bypasses, potential staging areas and how materials move. It also acknowledges that construction could temporarily restrict park access, and says the EIS will look at ways to "avoid, minimize, or mitigate" those effects.
That is why this fall matters more than 2029. Scoping is the step where the public weighs in on what the environmental study should examine. DOT's published timeline runs like this:
- November 2026: public scoping meetings
- Early 2027: Final Scoping Report, which responds to comments
- Late 2027: Draft EIS release and public meetings
- Early 2028: Final EIS
- 2029: anticipated start of construction
When the Draft EIS arrives in late 2027 with a Promenade staging plan, the questions it answers will be the ones set during scoping. The draft scope already lists "parks, public space, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade" as a topic for public input.
How the first public session went
The first virtual Q&A on October 6 showed how far apart the room was. The Brooklyn Downtown Star reported that one Brooklyn Heights resident asked why "this very expensive, not that long-term, and extremely intense project is preferable to just shutting down this part of the BQE and doing the job for real."
DOT project lead Tiffany-Ann Taylor answered in terms of what the city controls. Here is how the Brooklyn Downtown Star quoted her:
"We cannot touch the actual ramps to the BQE at this time, because that would trigger federal review and require their involvement… That's why we've decided to at least offer this conservative proposal to rehabilitate BQE Central, to ensure that it's safe to navigate."
"Trust me, nobody wants to spend nearly $4 billion," she added. "But here we are." According to the same report, Taylor also stressed that some portion of the Promenade would stay open at all times. DOT's presentation notes that the Q&A sessions were for clarifying questions and were not part of the formal comment record.
The Brooklyn Heights Association, whose campaign shaped the 2018 outcome, had not taken a public position on the new renderings as of Streetsblog's October 1 report. Executive Director Lara Birnback said members were waiting to learn more.
The BQE is also not the only long project on this stretch of waterfront. The Downtown Star notes that a developer is seeking to convert the former Watchtower buildings at 25 and 30 Columbia Heights into more than 600 homes. A similar proposal targets the former Long Island College Hospital site to the south, and the $3.5 billion Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment in northern Red Hook is planned to wrap up by 2039.
Where the conversation happens through November
DOT has been taking the project to places people already gather. Pop-ups were held at the Atlantic Antic on October 4 and at the Brooklyn Heights Library at 286 Cadman Plaza West on October 13. Rain canceled the Montague Street BID's October 11 Open Streets, as Brooklyn Heights Blog reported, so DOT moved its Montague Street pop-up to Sunday, October 25, on the block between Clinton and Hicks. These are the dates still ahead, all from DOT's project page:
- Thursday, October 29, 6 to 8 p.m.: BQE Central info session at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street. Advance registration required.
- Thursday, November 5: last day to register for the virtual scoping meeting if you need language interpretation.
- Tuesday, November 10, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: in-person public scoping meeting, location to be announced, with Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic and ASL interpretation.
- Thursday, November 12, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: virtual public scoping meeting on Zoom.
- Monday, November 23: written comments on the Draft Scope must be received. DOT accepts them through its online form, which is limited to 512 characters, by email at [email protected], by mail, or at either scoping meeting.
DOT says both scoping meetings present the same information, so attending one is enough.
Kay knows many of her Brooklyn Heights clients through mornings on the Promenade and afternoons at Squibb Park. If you'd like to talk through what a decade-long project along Furman Street could mean for your building or your block, Kay Moon is glad to sit down with you, in English, Korean or Japanese.