Reimagining spaces under elevated infrastructure

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - This real estate beneath the Gowanus Expressway might be a place you speed right past and never give a second look. Yet, others see beauty here.

"The bridge itself is really unique with those splayed columns and the curved beam," said Leni Schwendinger, lighting fellow for Design Trust for Public Space. "I have known about this place and have always wanted to do something with it."

Design Trust for Public Space partnered with the Department of Transportation to transform the space at 36th Street and 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The pilot is still a work in progress. The finishing touches are still being put in place. The parking areas will eventually be reconfigured for better traffic flow. And it has an 8-foot-wide walkway for pedestrians.

What really catches your eye is the lighting. The lights also help the greenery in three-steel planters grow. The plants absorb and filter the stormwater from the highway above, said Quilian Riano, an urban design fellow.

Some see it as a big upgrade from what this area used to look like.

Design Trust said the city has more than 1,600 acres of "el" space just like this one. So that means pockets can be landscaped around the five boroughs.

Design Trust and the DOT are creating two other sites together—Rockaway Freeway and Dutch Kills Street in Long Island City—that will be ready for neighbors to enjoy this summer.