What the City's BQE Plan Says About the Promenade, Squibb Park and Furman Street, and How Brooklyn Heights Can Weigh In

The city's plan for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway puts the Brooklyn Heights Promenade under the most protection, and the construction lands somewhere else. NYC DOT's Draft Scope of Work for the BQE Central project, dated October 2, 2026, places a two-level temporary highway in the Furman Street right-of-way below the Promenade. A second bypass would run north over the Brooklyn Bridge approach. The Promenade sits above all of this. The Furman Street edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park and a string of small parks at the neighborhood's north end sit beside it.

The window to shape how the city studies those places is open now and closes soon. Tonight's virtual scoping session is the last scheduled meeting. Written comments are due Monday, November 23.

The Promenade is what the plan is designed to protect

The Promenade is part of the structure. DOT describes BQE Central as the roughly 1.5-mile, city-owned stretch from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street. The "triple cantilever" stacks two levels of highway with the Promenade on top and Furman Street below. One of the project's stated goals is to "protect the Brooklyn Heights Promenade as part of the structure." DOT's project page says that during construction it "will maintain access to portions of the Promenade at all times, to the extent feasible."

That wording promises some access, but not access to all of it. The Brooklyn Heights Blog reported on October 24 that the repair plan will require closing segments of the Promenade in sequence. The city's materials do not yet include a segment-by-segment schedule.

Longtime residents will remember why the Promenade is being protected. Streetsblog recalled that a 2018 proposal would have built six temporary highway lanes directly on top of the Promenade. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped that plan after the Brooklyn Heights Association campaigned against it. The 2026 plan keeps traffic off the walkway, and moving it off the walkway is what puts it on Furman Street.

The bypass sits down on Furman Street

According to the Draft Scope, the first bypass would run alongside the triple cantilever from just north of Atlantic Avenue to Columbia Heights, "within the Furman Street right-of-way below the promenade elevation." DOT's project page adds that it would carry both directions of traffic and be no higher than the existing Queens-bound level.

The Brooklyn Heights Association's newsletter, "Is the Fix In for the BQE?", describes the result. The newsletter says the bypass would be wedged between the cantilever and Brooklyn Bridge Park and "would come within 4 feet of some residences." Streetsblog reported that the new double-decker structure would sit much closer to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the apartments on Furman Street than the existing BQE does.

North of Columbia Heights, the second bypass would carry Queens-bound traffic over the existing BQE and the Brooklyn Bridge approach, then through Dumbo to just west of the Manhattan Bridge. Streetsblog's reading of DOT's renderings is that this section would arch over the bridge's pedestrian boardwalk, its two-way bike path and its roadways. DOT said the project would have "no long-term impact" on access to the bridge for drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. DOT First Deputy Press Secretary Will Livingston told the outlet, "We are not planning for any impacts to Brooklyn Bridge Park through construction."

The Draft Scope also says DOT is still working out its construction "means and methods" and will look for ways to shorten the schedule. DOT's project page notes that the bypass alignments are illustrative and still being refined.

The north-end parks have the longest list

The heaviest construction-period effects in the documents fall on the small green spaces many Heights residents use every day. This is where the city's wording and the neighborhood's reading are furthest apart.

The Draft Scope says the project "may incorporate small sections of parkland into the transportation right-of-way." It lists Pierrepont Playground, Fruit Street Sitting Area and Cadman Plaza Park among the open spaces the environmental review will consider. Its construction section says work "may temporarily restrict access to parks." It says the temporary bypasses will put new structures "above and adjacent to sunlight-sensitive resources including Brooklyn Bridge Park." Because those structures "may be in place over multiple years," the EIS will study the shadows they cast.

Using parkland this way also needs approvals beyond DOT. The project page says the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure will be required, along with New York State parkland alienation for the affected portion.

Scoping sets what the study looks at, so the timing is tight

The current stage decides what the Environmental Impact Statement will examine and how. The decisions about those parks come later. DOT invites comments on several topics.

• project scope and rehabilitation measures
• traffic, parking, walking and biking
• parks, public space and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
• construction activities and their effects on the community
• ways to reduce impacts on nearby residents, workers, businesses and visitors

People disagree about how wide the study should be. The BHA calls the public input timeline "very short." It argues the city has not adequately studied alternatives to the bypasses and points to three:

• demand-management strategies from the BQE Expert Panel Report
• adding supports so the structure is no longer a cantilever, an idea from Shane Neufeld at Light and Air Studio
• moving all traffic to the lower level, as in Marc Wouters' Streamline plan

The association calls its position "repair and transform."

DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn made the city's case in an op-ed quoted by Streetsblog: "In short, we are out of options." DOT's materials say the BQE carries about 130,000 vehicles a day, 13,000 of them trucks. Further delay could mean pulling trucks, or all traffic, off the highway and onto local streets. Rehabilitation would extend the structure's life by about 40 years. A full replacement would last 75 years or more. DOT estimates the cost at $3.5 billion to $4 billion. The Capital Plan currently allocates $1.6 billion, and the city says it will add the rest.

One piece of the Atlantic Avenue end is settled. Former DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman suggested closing the Atlantic Avenue on-ramp during the repairs, Streetsblog reported. DOT says the on- and off-ramps at Atlantic Avenue will not be closed for this project. It says closing them would require federal action and its own environmental review.

The dates still ahead

Tuesday's in-person session at City Tech has already happened. DOT presented the same material at both meetings, so the remaining dates are these:

1. Tonight, Thursday, November 12, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: the virtual public scoping meeting on Zoom. Advance registration is required through the project page.
2. Monday, November 23: the deadline for comments on the Draft Scope. Comments go through DOT's online form, which allows 512 characters, or by email to [email protected]. They can also be mailed to the NYC Department of Transportation, Division of Bridges, BQE Central Project Team, Attention: Albert Silvestri, 55 Water Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10041.
3. Early 2027: the Final Scoping Report.
4. Late 2027: the Draft EIS, with public meetings.
5. Early 2028: the Final EIS.
6. 2029 to before 2040: construction, including building and removing both bypasses.

The full Draft Scope of Work is posted for anyone who wants to read the park and shadow sections themselves. Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon described the goal on the Brooklyn Heights Blog: "We're working to ensure the roadway is safe and that the community is involved in the BQE planning process."

The Promenade itself has a December date. The Brooklyn Heights Garden Club installs its 25-foot holiday tree in early December, and the lighting ceremony is December 17 at 5:30 p.m.

At Danielle Sells NYC, we're following each stage of BQE Central and what it means for the blocks along Columbia Heights, Furman Street and the north end of the Heights. If you own nearby and want to talk through how a 2029-to-2040 construction timeline fits with your own plans, book a market consultation.