Stitching the Divide: Reconnecting the Segregated Neighbourhood of Red Hook Back Into the City Fabric of Brooklyn, New York City

Abstract

Red Hook, Brooklyn, is a neighbourhood characterized by the urban disconnection and urban decay caused by the Gowanus Expressway and Hamilton Avenue expansion. During the 20th century, federally funded highway expansion promised to connect the country on a regional scale, however, systematically dismantled lower income neighbourhoods, leaving long lasting effects on the built environment and residents. Border vacuum effects of highway infrastructure have permeated deep into Red Hook, leaving the neighbourhood in a state of neglect and disrepair.

This thesis explores Red Hook’s connectivity back to Brooklyn. It specifically explores the urban disconnection due to inadequate transportation services, decaying streetscape conditions, and the Gowanus Expressway as the main contributor to the socio-economic and physical disconnection of Red Hook. Active transportation infrastructure is explored as an armature to reconnect Red Hook back to the city fabric of Brooklyn while providing moments to programmatically engage the community of Red Hook and Brooklyn.