Henrik Krogius, a leader in the campaign to create Poxabogue County Park, which led to the Long Pond Greenbelt, an interconnected expanse of ponds, woods and wetlands that stretches from Sag Harbor to Sagaponack, died on October 4 at his home in Brooklyn Heights. He was 87 and had been struggling with prostate cancer.
A Poxabogue summer resident since 1965, he developed an interest in the greenbelt on the death of Fred C. Topping in 1973. Mr. Topping had owned 28 acres on the shores of Poxabogue Pond, which a developer had acquired for a planned 16 house development. With the help of Barbara “Babby” French, Mr. Krogius and his wife, Elaine, lobbied town and county legislators, eventually resulting in the purchase of the land by condemnation by the county. Mr. Krogius later served for several years on the board for the Group for the East End and he and his wife were honored as the first Champions of the Greenbelt by the Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt in 2008.
In his other career, Mr. Krogius served for 27 years as a writer and producer for NBC News and its New York affiliate and was for some eight years the producer of the 11 o’clock news in New York. His work brought him into contact with such broadcast luminaries as Mike Wallace, Frank McGee, Edwin Newman, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw and Chuck Scarborough. Later he served 22 years as the editor of the Brooklyn Heights Press and Cobble Hill News, a period that coincided with the drive to create the Brooklyn Bridge Park along the East River. He was very active in the news coverage of the park and later co-authored a book with Joanne Witty titled “Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Dying Waterfront Transformed,” which was released in August 2016. He had previously authored “New York, You’re a Wonderful Town: 50 Plus Years of Chronicling Gotham,” a graphic portrayal of the City through his own photographs.
He is survived by his wife, Elaine; a brother, Tristan; two sons, Sven and Tor; and two grandchildren.
on Oct 7, 2016