Business & Tech

Work Begins on Navy Street Pedestrian 'Cage'

DOT to install protective barrier in wake of August rock-throwing incident that injured cyclist.

Workers with the city Department of Transportation began prep work on new fencing along a highly trafficked pedestrian overpass over Navy Street in Fort Greene Houses on Wednesday.

The overpass was the scene of a projectile-throwing attack last August that left cyclist Stephen Arthur dazed and bleeding. A cyclist behind Arthur, Kurt Martig, reported seeing teens throwing rocks, bottles and bricks at Navy Street bikers at the time of the incident.

Despite the danger, residents of Whitman and Ingersoll houses told the Brooklyn Paper this week that a planned extension of fencing along the overpass was too "cage-like."

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A DOT worker confirmed that the fencing would be extended, but couldn't say by how much. "That will be decided by the powers-that-be," he said.

A 20-year resident of Fort Greene Houses who regularly uses the footpath, David Hodges, said he supported the plan to extend fencing to keep people safe.

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"Kids will be kids and this path should be safe for everyone to use," Hodges said.

One important party in the Navy Street rock-throwing debate had an even more radical solution to the problem.

“Ideally, my plan would be to close Navy Street, tear down the Fleet Walkway, and turn that area into a park for the good people of the Ingersoll Houses,” Arthur told Gothamist on Tuesday.


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