Green-Wood greenway plan gets $4 million in city funding

Megan S. Messana

Green-Wood greenway plan gets $4 million in city funding
A cyclist rides along 37th Street beside Green-Wood Cemetery, part of the proposed greenway route. Photo by Nick Liu-Sontag

Green-Wood Cemetery has received $4 million in City Council funding for community engagement and design work on its proposed Green-Wood Green-Way, a roughly 1.5-mile pedestrian and bicycle corridor along the cemetery’s southern edge.

The proposal would run along Fort Hamilton Parkway from McDonald Avenue to 37th Street, then along 37th and 36th streets to Fourth Avenue, replacing portions of curbside parking and poorly maintained roadside space with a two-way protected bike lane and expanded pedestrian space. Green-Wood also plans a separate new cemetery entrance near Ninth Avenue and 37th Street.

“Creating greater access to green spaces in New York, because these [spaces] are shared backyards and front yards, it’s about increasing accessibility to them as much as possible,” said Arthur Rodriguez, Green-Wood’s chief of staff.

Rodriguez said the new entrance is also intended to make the cemetery feel more accessible to nearby residents. “We’ve also noticed … we don’t have a lot of Latinos come inside the cemetery because of this taboo feeling that ‘it’s a cemetery, it’s not meant for the living,’” he said. “We want to break that stigma.”

Green-Wood estimates the greenway will cost about $15 million and hopes to complete it within five years. Rodriguez said the cemetery is exploring additional donors and other sources to cover the remaining cost. The proposed entrance would be funded separately because it would be built on cemetery property.

The cemetery is also developing what Rodriguez called a “road show” of seven projects it hopes to present to potential donors over the next nine years.

“We are going to be doing a lot of work about branding and visitor experience, which is no easy task with 478 acres,” said Daniela Ochoa-Bravo, Green-Wood’s manager of communications. “So [we’re] very excited to see how we can better service our visitors and new visitors and also create … an easier time for people who want to learn more about our permanent residents and historic sites.”

Green-Wood has spoken with neighborhood organizations including UPROSE, the Chinese-American Planning Council and the Center for Family Life about the proposal. At the time of reporting, Green-Wood still needed to coordinate with the MTA because part of the proposed route would run near the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot. An MTA spokesperson told the Sunset Post it was too early in the process for the agency to comment.

“[People] think it’s a cemetery, they don’t think it’s for them,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about showing Brooklynites that this is your backyard. We want them to come here.”