The promenade separates the British Empire Building from the French Building. Due to this, people in New York began calling this the Channel Gardens, as if it were the English Channel separating England from France.
See: http://nycarchitecture.columbia.edu/0242_3/0242_3_s5_2_text.html
Keywords: urban landscapes, outdoor spaces, plazas, promenade, United States, Kings County, complexes, multistory buildings, high rise, skyscrapers. Photograph by Lin Goepfert.