Downtown Arm
| Downtown Arm | |
|---|---|
 Longfellow Bridge Lock (center) and the junction with the Grand Union Canal (back) | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 0.471 km (0.293 miles) (Main route only) |
| Maximum boat length | 22 m (72 ft 2.1 in) |
| Maximum boat beam | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Status | Open |
| Navigation authority | Port Authority of New Bakersville |
| History | |
| Former names | New Bakersville City Canal, Bowery Canal |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Grand Union Canal (Longfellow Bridge Junction) |
| End point | New Bakersville Canal (First Street Bascule Bridge) |
| Branch of | Grand Union Canal |
| Connects to | New Bakersville Canal |
The Downtown Arm is a 471-meter canal branch of the Grand Union Canal, running between Coney Island and Downtown New Bakersville City. It originates as multiple separate canals merged into one over time, though it currently serves as a connection between central New Bakersville and the Grand Union Canal, which runs between Monterey Lake and Vernal Lake.
History
The Downtown Arm is an amalgamation of three different canal projects merged together. The oldest part of the canal stems off the end of the east end of the New Bakersville Canal, originating as an extension in attempt to connect Monterey Lake to Vernal Lake via a canal. This stub served as a border between Bakersville and the former city of Graltes. This section didn't go too far south for a long period of time, and city expansion eventually blocked the path that the canal would have taken. By the time interest in a canal connecting Monterey and Vernal Lakes had returned, the New Bakersville City Subway Graltes Line had been built directly in the path and required the original plans of a wide canal to be scrapped. A Narrow Canal was built, beginning with a tall lock allowing boats to pass over the Subway tunnels. The canal then turned west, avoiding the World Trade Center and Rockefeller Center building complexes that had sprung in over time. The canal then curved south after Bay Parkway before abruptly stopping.
Plans for a separate canal to isolate Bowery from the rest of Coney Island had come up following the absorption of Graltes into New Bakersville City, though nothing serious had been planned or proposed until the narrow extension of the New Bakersville Canal had been built which renewed interest in canals. This separate canal, eventually known as the Bowery Canal, was built from Flushing Bay to the unfinished end of the New Bakersville Canal Extension.
Around the opening of the Bowery Canal, construction began on the Grand Canal, the predecessor of the Grand Union Canal, a thoroughly planned project to connect Monterey Lake and Vernal Lake along the Peaslake border. A turning basin in Downtown New Bakersville of the Grand Union Canal had been aligned with one of the curves of the Bowery Canal. An extension of the turning basin was made, connecting the Bowery Canal to the Grand Canal, forming the Grand Union Canal. The direct portion of the Grand Union Canal between lakes was eventually widened to allow for larger boats, though the rest of the canal was unable to be converted. To specify the exclusive narrow portions of the canal, the Downtown Arm was specified to be a separate part of the greater canal.
Description
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The arm begins at the Longfellow Junction immediately south of the Longfellow Bridge. Beneath the bridge is the Longfellow Lock, going upstream. All locks on the canal can be used by small, wooden rowboats. The canal travels north to the west of Bay Parkway, acting as the border between Downtown New Bakersville and Coney Island. A junction west of the intersection of Avenue A and Bay Parkway separates the arm into two sections: the west section separates Bowery from the rest of Coney Island and goes towards Flushing Bay in Monterey Lake via three downstream locks. The north section turns immediately east to a lock doing downstream, then north to a second downstream lock, and ends at the First Street Bascule Bridge.