Green-Wood Cemetery has received $4 million in City Council funding to support the development of its proposed greenway project.
The cash, secured by the Council’s Brooklyn delegation, will fund community outreach and design for the “Green-Wood Green-Way,” which would bring broader sidewalks, a two-way protected bike lane and more to a neglected 1.5-mile stretch of Fort Hamilton Parkway and 36th and 37th streets along the cemetery’s southern border, according to graveyard officials.
Currently, those streets are unsafe and inhospitable to cyclists and pedestrians, they said. The area is a hotspot for illegal dumping, sidewalks are few and damaged and the roadway is packed with illegally-parked trucks and RVs.
A portion of 37th Street, home of the would-be Green-Way, which is plagued with illegal dumping and parking. Photo courtesy of Google Maps
“For too many lifetimes the Sunset Park community has been bordered by a mile-and-a-half of no man’s land and a critical transportation connector has laid fallow,” said Green-Wood president Meera Joshi, in a statement. “The wait is over, the Green-Wood Green-Way and new entrance will turn this neglected public space into a neighborhood destination and provide easy access to Green-Wood’s 478 acres.”
The nascent project still has a long way to go. At a Community Board 7 meeting in April, Joshi said there are “lots of logistics” to work out. The Department of Transportation is “in the very early stages of discussing a potential project with Green-Wood,” a spokesperson told Brooklyn Paper.
For now, it’s not clear how Green-Wood and the city will partner on the newly-funded community engagement.
“Currently, we are awaiting more information from the City on how we can partner for community engagement,” said Green-Wood spox Stacy Locke. “In the meantime, we will continue leading tours of the Green-Way corridor with local groups and hosting community orgs to gather their vision for the project and determine how it can meet the needs of local neighborhoods.”
The basic “vision” for the Green-Way was shaped by conversations with local groups like UPROSE, Bike South Brooklyn and Community Board 7, per Green-Wood, and the project would include new lighting, planters, seating and public art.
Green-Wood serves as a de-facto public park, but is hard to access from the southern end. File photo by Maike Schulz
It would also include a new cemetery entrance at 9th Avenue and 37th Street, beside the historic Freedom Lots — the largest undisturbed burial ground for Black Americans in New York State. Green-Wood doesn’t have an entrance on its southernmost edge, and residents who live in the area have to schlep to Fourth Avenue or Fort Hamilton Parkway to access the green space.
“We appreciate the community’s support for improving safety and accessibility along the perimeter of Greenwood Cemetery, a popular cycling and pedestrian corridor and a major neighborhood asset,” said DOT spokesperson Mona Bruno. “NYC DOT looks forward to continuing to explore safety upgrades and accessibility improvements for all at this location.”
Over the past five years, there have been a total of 97 crashes along Fort Hamilton Parkway, 36th Street and 37th Street, according to Streetsblog. Those crashes resulted in 128 injuries and three deaths, including the 2022 killing of Eric Salitsky by a garbage truck driver.
“This investment reflects what Sunset Park residents have been asking for, an end to illegal dumping and unsafe streets, and the strengthening of a connection between our neighborhood and this incredible green space,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés. “I’m grateful to my colleagues for standing with this community.”
A timeline for the project is not yet clear. At the April CB7 meeting, Joshi — who served as a Deputy Mayor for Operations during the Adams administration — said she would love to see the funding used within Fiscal Year 2027.
Green-Wood president Meera Joshi. File photo courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“Ideally we’d like to have a little more control, and see if the city would let us contract out for some of the design and community engagement, instead of the city agency, because I believe we could probably do that process faster,” she said at the time. “But it’s gonna be up to the administration.”
Green-Wood has estimated that the full project will cost $15 million, excluding the cost of the new entrance. The hope, Locke said, is that the city will cover the expenses. Green-Wood would shoulder the cost of the new entrance and pitch in on long-term maintenance of the greenway’s planters and greenery.
“As the Council’s former Sanitation Chair, I know what illegal dumping does to a neighborhood. As Transportation Chair, I know what a missing bike lane does to a delivery worker’s safety,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu. “This funding addresses both, turning a corridor plagued by dumping and unsafe traffic conditions into a physically protected connection between Sunset Park and Green-Wood. I’ll make sure the final design lives up to what this community has been asking for.”