“Red Hook Crossings” is a study of the pedestrian experience in Future Green’s Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. The study focuses on the busy, eight-lane Hamilton Avenue, which pedestrians must cross when visiting Red Hook on foot. Hamilton Avenue supports heavy traffic loads and rests under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, making it a hostile environment to traverse. The project goal is to identify the factors that contribute to the feeling of impenetrability, and thus develop strategies to transform Hamilton Avenue from a partition to a threshold.

Through gathering existing data, community engagement, and mapping personal impressions of the site, we gained insight into the neighborhood’s history, context, ecology, and transportation infrastructure, to inform the design framework and identify opportunities for intervention. We synthesized existing quantitative reports, consolidated feedback from an online survey, and created our own experiential collages to graphically represent the existing site conditions. Our research revealed that the most desired interventions for the site by local residents (and other individuals who commute in and out of Red Hook) include landscaping, ecological restoration, better lighting, street painting, and rest areas.

After compiling the data, we used our analyses to develop proposals for small scale interventions that, either alone or when aggregated, will improve pedestrian and ecological conditions. These proposals comprise a kit-of-parts which are the building blocks for a series of final design recommendations. Referring to tactical urbanism and traffic calming strategies as a starting point, we conceptualized interventions for safety improvements, beautification, sound-proofing, stormwater management, and ecological restoration.

Finally, our comprehensive analysis and design recommendations were presented to community stakeholders, including local nonprofits Red Hook Initiative and Gowanus Canal Conservancy, who continue to be involved in the Department of Transportation’s plan for reimagining Hamilton Avenue.