Residents in Bath Beach have been waiting nearly four years for the city to finish construction on a new pedestrian bridge from 17th Avenue over the Belt Parkway.

The original one was first closed in 2021, with the new one scheduled to open in the fall of 2023.

But now in the summer of 2025, there is still no bridge, cutting off residents' access to the waterfront and Shore Parkway Greenway.

"The joke is that we'll never be alive to even walk the bridge to even walk the bridge by the time they're even finished," said Anthony Malone, who lives a few blocks away.

The city had said the bridge needed to be replaced to give it a higher clearance to avoid being hit by trucks, and also to add ramps and make it more accessible.

"We don't see progress," said another neighbor. "They work one day, and one week they don't work. I don't know why."

According to Community Board 11, which represents the area, the district is made up of one of the lowest percentages of total parkland.

Without the bridge, residents have to either go over a quarter mile to the west, or more than three-quarter miles east just to get down to the waterfront.

"I don't even bother," said Malone. " It's way too out of the way for me, I have things to do."

A source tells News 12 that the delays were due to COVID at first, and then because of issues with utilities that were buried underground.

However, the Department of Transportation says things are moving now, and it expects it will be done by the end of the year.

"If they mean the end of next year, I believe that, but end of this year? Yeah I'd rather play the lotto than believe of that," answered Malone.

"It's like believing in Santa Claus," added Alicia Valentin, who lives up the street. "Hopefully, it's going to happen, because we want it to happen, but I don't know."

Until then, residents do at least have a park across the street from the bridge.