New Yorkers can now vote online for their favorite finalists of the City Council’s competition to redesign the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Council’s “Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge” contest, which aims to make the iconic span more friendly to pedestrians and bikers, collected the six finalist in two categories — three plans by professional architecture firms, along with another three proposals by young contestants.
The city’s legislature organized the contest along with the nonprofit Van Allen Institute, and will be accepting votes for one in each of the categories on the Institute’s website between now and July 30.
The organizers set up the non-binding contest earlier in the year to seek proposals to revamp the narrow pathway across Brooklyn’s namesake span, which is frequently over-crowded with tourists, commuters, and cyclists.
The professional group of competitors includes high-profile names like Dumbo architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group and Manhattan engineering and design firm Arup — who together proposed a plan called “Back to the Future” to return the span to its roots by closing car lanes and ramps, leaving only room for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.
Another effort — called “Bridge X” — is the brainchild of ScenesLab, Minzi Long, and Andrew Nash, and would also seek to dedicate pedestrians and cyclists space on the upper and lower decks of the bridge, while also providing space for vendors and small businesses.
Among the young candidates’s ideas, “The Artery” by Connecticut contestant Lukas Kugler imagines a larger upper deck flush out to the edges of the bridge, providing more space and bike paths.
The international trio of Shannon Hui, Kwans Kim, and Yujin Kim proposed a plan called “Do Look Down” — which calls to implement an eye-grabbing clear glass deck between the two levels. They envision turning the bridge into a pedestrian haven with performers and vendors, as well as so-called kinetic paving, which gathers energy from footsteps and converts it to power light displays.
The organizers will announce the winner of each category later this summer, with a prize of $13,000 for the professional category’s champ, and $3,000 for the winner of the young adult group.
Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a contender to succeed Bill de Blasio as mayor, and Van Alen launched the competition in February and took submissions up until the beginning of April, before unveiling the finalists on July 9.
