MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES NYC RECEIVES $7.25 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT TO PLAN MAJOR EXPANSION OF GREENWAY NETWORK FOCUSED ON UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

 

Administration Will Prioritize Lower-Income Communities That Lack Access to Affordable Transportation and Job Opportunities for New Greenways

 

Plan Will Envision New Green Spaces, Enhance Quality of Life, and Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Along With Waterfront Access

 

Grant Builds on Mayor Adams’ Nearly $50 Million Investment in Central Queens and Southwest Brooklyn Greenway Projects

 

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the city has received a $7.25 million federal grant to plan for a major expansion of the greenway network across the five boroughs, with a focus on historically underserved, lower-income communities that lack access to affordable transportation and job opportunities. The funding comes from a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant and will be used to develop a comprehensive vision plan to fill critical gaps in the city’s greenway network, improve cyclist and pedestrian safety with improved infrastructure, and enhance quality of life with green transportation options and greater waterfront access. The grant application was prepared by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), the New York City Parks Department (NYC Parks), and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

 

“All New Yorkers deserve access to our beautiful greenways, and we’re making that happen thanks to millions in federal funding,” said Mayor Adams. “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. Thank you to USDOT, Senator Schumer, and all our partners in New York and Washington for helping to ‘Get Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers.”

 

“Thank you to the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation for this major investment as part of the RAISE grant for New York City to plan expanding our greenways, which are vital transportation and recreation spaces for all New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “New York City knows that the federal government is an important partner, as we look to improve our infrastructure for a sustainable, accessible, and equitable future citywide.”

 

“This funding will help New York City build out our world-class greenway network to support the booming cycling ridership we’ve seen during the pandemic,” said NYCDOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “This administration is committed to delivering these projects equitably across the five boroughs, because every New Yorker deserves access to safe and efficient transportation options that promote their health and the health of our environment. We thank our federal partners at USDOT, our sister agencies, and the advocacy of the Greenways Coalition for all their hard work and collective vision in securing these funds.”

 

“Greenways provide connections between parks and serve as vital resources for recreation and transportation, and this grant funding will allow us to create the comprehensive plan needed to equitably improve and expand the greenway network citywide,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We look forward to working with sister agencies, partners, and advocates on this vision plan, as we continue to strengthen connections between neighborhoods and parks and make greenways safer and more inviting for all New Yorkers.”

 

“We are thrilled to have supported this grant application and thank our federal partners for delivering funding for the first citywide greenway vision plan that will improve equity and quality of life, especially in communities where parks are limited,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “Greenways not only offer New Yorkers a safe path to walk and bike but they also strengthen our economy by connecting New Yorkers to jobs, reducing commute times, and helping to take cars off the roads. We look forward to continuing our planning work with our city partners to create a healthier, greener, and more equitable city.”

 

With the new funding, NYCDOT, NYC Parks, and NYCEDC will together create the city’s first comprehensive greenway vision plan in 30 years to guide future projects and track cycling growth and related trends. As part of that vision plan, the city will work to identify approximately five planned “Early Action” corridors across the five boroughs — prioritizing low- and moderate-income communities outside of Manhattan — and conduct robust planning studies for each to prepare the projects for funding and implementation. These new corridors would complement NYCDOT’s network of on-street bike lanes and NYC Parks’ public open spaces by dedicating more space to walking and cycling. The vision plan and corridor studies would include robust public engagement processes and would be developed in close collaboration with communities and key stakeholders, including the NYC Greenways Coalition.

 

The new greenway vision planning process follows a $47.6 million investment by Mayor Adams to complete six projects that will improve existing greenway routes in central Queens and along Brooklyn’s southwest shoreline through NYC Parks’ “Destination: Greenways!” plan. The city is simultaneously working to fill five key gaps in the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway in Inwood, Harlem, East Harlem, and East Midtown, representing an investment of over $1 billion. The first of these projects — the East Midtown Greenway, from East 53^rd Street to East 61^st Street — is expected to be completed in 2023.

 

“The Harlem River Working Group thanks Senator Schumer and Representatives Espaillat and Torres for their support of the NYCDOT RAISE grant,” said Chauncy Young, coordinator, Harlem River Working Group. “With this funding, New York City can finally begin to develop a comprehensive greenway that includes all the boroughs, addressing decades of inequitable greenway and bicycle infrastructure development. We look forward to the new greenway plan to include a Harlem River Greenway in both the Bronx and Manhattan and a true greenway network for the city that connects each of boroughs to the Empire State Trail and with the Tristate Greenway networks.”