The BQE Going Green???

The good folks over at Curbed have continuing coverage of the madness that surrounds the New York City Economic Development Corporation's solicitation of ideas for the "trenched" section of the BQE. From more ambitious ideas based around housing, flooding, the EDC has selected dlandstudio for it's "less-than-abitious" plan to green up the trenched BQE section in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.

"Now, two years after Brooklyn architecture firm dlandstudio wowed us with some renderings of a green BQE, that concept appears to be the winner. Why? Because it's the cheapest. The Brooklyn Paper calls it a "less-than-ambitious" proposal, but when other ideas include turning the ditch into the Nile, what realistic alternative isn't a disappointment?"

For those who don't realize, in the footprint of the current trenched section of the BQE were numerous buildings, churches and parks prior to the BQE's construction. Caputo's Bake Shop's original building was demolished to make room for the open wound that severed the Columbia Waterfront District from the rest of Carroll Gardens, as was the original Sacred Heart's parish building.

Another big problem with the BQE is that the Carroll Gardens community is cut off from the waterfront. There used to be legions of workers who would come walking up the hill from the docks after work. Now, we have two different neighborhoods, neither quite whole.