We are writing to ask for more space for cyclists and pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge and on New York’s greatest real estate asset – our streets.

Over the past few months, as part of the Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge competition, designers young and old submitted inspiring ideas from around the world about how to make the finite space of the bridge as accessible, useable, and equitable as possible. One thing that all the best proposals had in common was their ability to respond to this uniquely challenging moment in the city’s history by adapting the bridge and its surrounding streets and public spaces to the current needs of New Yorkers, just as the bridge has done throughout its history.

The teams that were chosen as finalists also got great feedback from us and a wide array of other stakeholders, and there’s a lot of energy around the bold ideas that the finalist teams put forward. That feedback also highlighted the importance of incorporating lenses of racial and social justice, equity for communities in need, resiliency and climate change, and equitable distribution of space during this time of social distancing.

Change on the bridge would make a big difference for the multitudes of New Yorkers who’ve taken up cycling as a way to safely move around the city during a pandemic or endured decades of marginalization on the narrow promenade, and to the pedestrians who fear for their life and limb every time they step on the famous wooden planks.

It would also make a statement, on the city’s most iconic piece of infrastructure, that we will not be held captive by outdated roadways. We will not fear adapting our streets to the needs of the present. We will not, in a time of crisis, subvert those needs to the luxury of a free river crossing for private automobiles.

Inspired by many of the ideas of our finalist teams, we would like to request that DOT explore short term measures applying many of the same principles that DOT has utilized across the City as part of its Open Streets initiative to create more room for pedestrians and cyclists both on and around the bridge. Some of the ideas proposed by the competition’s finalists are bold and expansive, like creating a network of ​“people streets;” constructing community space inside the anchorages; or using biodiverse native trees and plantings to build out a wider interconnected network of vibrant open spaces along our streets.

But others are simple and immediately implementable, like reclaiming a single vehicle lane on the bridge’s roadway for cyclists; making some vehicle lanes HOV or bus-only; using technology and temporary interventions to pilot creative ideas for use and programming; and creating more inviting public space around the anchorages including additional car-free streets in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.

We understand that many of the bolder ideas will require capital funding and are therefore longer-term in nature. But that shouldn’t prevent us from taking a simple step. Let’s make more space for people. Right now.

Sincerely,

Gale Brewer
Manhattan Borough President

Margaret Chin
NYC Council Member, District 1

Stephen Levin
NYC Council Member, District 33

Jon Orcutt
Director of Advocacy, Bike New York

Amy Cohen
Chair, Families for Safe Streets

Phil Myrick
Executive Director, Project for Public Spaces

Tom Wright
President and CEO, Regional Plan Association

Eric McClure
Executive Director, StreetsPAC

Danny Harris
Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives

Deborah Marton
Executive Director, Van Alen Institute