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del.icio.usIt may take “practice” to get to Carnegie Hall, but to get to the virtually unmarked Brooklyn Bridge footpath takes keen eyesight, an internal GPS, and the willingness to ask for directions.
But by this time next year, befuddled tourists will be guided to the famed pedestrian walkway by real signs, rather than the current mismash of hand-painted placards put up by grassroots groups or the city’s graffiti-covered maps near the bridge.
The $1-million signage plan, sponsored by the Metrotech BID, Borough President Markowitz and the City Council, calls for the installation of 110 signs in Downtown Brooklyn, from near the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the footpath’s DUMBO entrance.
That comes as welcome news to tourists like Anthony Lopez, of Puerto Rico, who couldn’t find the entrance to the fabled bridge’s walkway, which is hidden beneath a Brooklyn-Queens Expressway overpass on Washington Street. The only clue to the walkway’s existence is a green sign obscured by a sticker.
“I took the train to [Brooklyn Heights], and had to keep asking for directions,” said Lopez on Wednesday afternoon.
Lopez was hardly the only irritated visitor.
Frenchman Herve Ricou walked across the bridge from Manhattan, but once he was in Brooklyn, found himself surrendering to the notion that he was in a no-man’s land.
“You can’t read it,” said Ricou, pointing to the graffiti-, sticker-, and grime-covered “Information” kiosk near the footpath.
A kind benefactor has anonymously posted hand-painted (and legible!) signs in Cadman Plaza Park pointing the way to the famous bridge, but some question whether the Borough of Kings should be relying on the kindness of strangers for basic infrastructure.
Metrotech BID Executive Director Michael Weiss said the final designs for the custom-made, multi-colored signs are now being tweaked, though Weiss did say they would have a “steel blue” background and be constructed of high-quality materials. The signs should be installed by late summer.
“I think when people see them, they’ll be really pleased,” said Weiss.
At the very least, they’ll know where they’re going.
©2006 The Brooklyn Paper
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