Major Bay Parkway Promenade Rehabilitation Now Underway

Contractors are now on-site, tearing up and reconstructing a broad swath of the Shore Parkway Greenway near Ceasar’s Bay, also known as the Bay Parkway promenade.

We were first tipped off to the work by Councilman Vincent Gentile’s office, who, along with former Councilman Domenic Recchia, allocated just north of $500,000 to get the much-needed repairs done.

Work began last week, when city contractors tore up the asphalt from 19th Avenue to the edge of the fields. Here, the Parks Department will repave the asphalt for bicyclists and pedestrians, who have long suffered through crater-like terrain and trip hazards.

As that wraps up, a second and more intensive phase will kick off, stretching from the ball fields to Bay Parkway. The city will reconstruct the bike path, down to the very drainage system serving it. Work will include asphalt replacement, added drainage, installation of 15 new benches, and some landscaping.

The construction means cyclists and pedestrians will lose a bit of the waterfront stretch for the early summer. But it’ll be back, and better for use, by the end of June when the project wraps up, the Parks Department told Bensonhurst Bean.

It won’t cure all of the promenade’s problems. Even though some of the greenway saw repairs after Superstorm Sandy using federal money, much of the span still needs repaving, and portions continue to suffer minor flooding after even light rain. But Gentile said it’s all a work in progress.

“The stretch of our popular waterfront path between Bay Parkway and the Verrazano Bridge is still a work in progress but this is a sure-footed step in the right direction,” said Gentile. “I thank Marnee Elias-Pavia, District Manager of Community Board 11, and of course the NYC Parks Capital Projects Unit for helping to make this happen and just in time for summer!”