Mayor Eric Adams is targeting areas with a lack of good transportation and jobs for an expansion of the city’s greenway network, using $7.25 million in federal infrastructure funding to plan for the new bike paths.
The grant money comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation and pays for the city to devise a “vision plan” to fill gaps in New York City’s greenways.
“All New Yorkers deserve access to our beautiful greenways, and we’re making that happen thanks to millions in federal funding,” Mayor Adams said in a Monday release. “This grant will help us do the necessary planning to make the city greener and more bike-friendly in the communities that most need that infrastructure.”
The cash only funds the planning of the new routes, not the expansion, and City Hall doesn’t expect to release the proposal until 2024.
The study will focus on five corridors for the walking and cycling upgrades, prioritizing low and moderate-income areas outside of Manhattan that don’t have good access to transit and jobs.
Potential new greenway sections include an extension of Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway into Brownsville, the Jamaica Bay Greenway into southeast Queens, along the Harlem River in the Bronx, and Staten Island’s North Shore, according to a map the city submitted to the feds.
The city’s Department of Transportation, Parks Department, and Economic Development Corporation will work on the scheme.
The money comes from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Law via one of several grant programs called Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE.
Federal Transportation officials announced five projects to get the RAISE grants New York State on Aug. 11. The greenway planning project was the only one in New York City.
Mayor Adams previously earmarked $47.6 million to add 20 miles of greenway projects in Queens and Brooklyn to the existing 150-mile greenway network.
Advocates hope to expand the Big Apple’s greenway mileage nearly threefold and across the city.
“As we work towards the vision of a 400-mile citywide greenway network, funds from the U.S. DOT will enable city agencies to lay the foundation for a greenway system that connects and equitably serves residents from all five boroughs,” said Remy Schwartz, deputy director of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
