Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
side of the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Designed by
landscape architecture firm
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from
Atlantic Avenue in the south, under the
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, also called the Esplanade, is a -long platform and pedestrian walkway cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278) in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. With views of ...
and past the
Brooklyn Bridge, to Jay Street north of the
Manhattan Bridge. From north to south, the park includes the preexisting Empire–Fulton Ferry and Main Street Parks; the historic
Fulton Ferry Landing; and Piers 1–6, which contain various playgrounds and residential developments. The park also includes
Empire Stores
Empire Stores is a former warehouse complex along the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park within the neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. It hosts a food hall and market operated by Time Out New York, which o ...
and the Tobacco Warehouse, two 19th-century structures, and is a part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a series of parks and bike paths around Brooklyn.
The park's first portion, Pier 1, opened in 2010. The land for the park was formerly an industrial stretch of waterfront owned by the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
. After the city and state signed a joint agreement in 2002, site planning and project funding proceeded. The first work, undertaken in 2007, involved the demolition of a warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge. Since the opening of Pier 1, several other portions of the park have been completed. , the park was 90% complete. However, there have been disputes and lawsuits over several aspects of Brooklyn Bridge Park, including the construction of residential developments to help pay for the project.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is overseen by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates and maintains the park, as well as oversees its construction. The corporation's mission is to "create and maintain a world class park that is a recreational, environmental and cultural destination enjoyed by residents of, and visitors to, New York City".
History
As a port
![BBP Pier 1 hill NYWw jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/BBP_Pier_1_hill_NYWw_jeh.jpg)
In 1642, the first ferry landing opened on the land that is now Brooklyn Bridge Park's Empire Fulton Ferry section. Soon after, a thriving trading economy developed into a small town called "het Veer", meaning "the Ferry".
As het Veer grew throughout the 17th century, it became known as the "Road to the Ferry".
On August 29, 1776, during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, het Veer served as a crucial strategic location for
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
and the
Continental Army in the
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...
. In the middle of the night, Washington's troops evaded the quickly advancing British Army by escaping across the East River to Manhattan.
As the 18th century came to a close, additional ferry services were added to this waterfront community, including docking points for the "Catherine Street Ferry" and the first steamboat ferry landing that was created by
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboa ...
, which eventually became known as the
Fulton Ferry Landing. The community continued to grow into the 19th century as
Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...
developed into a residential neighborhood,
eventually becoming one of America's first suburbs, as ramps and bridges to the waterfront were built.
By the 1850s,
Brooklyn City Railroad
The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars (horsecars and later trolleys) in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898.
...
rail lines were installed at the Fulton Ferry Landing. During this boom period, brick warehouse development proliferated along the waterfront, and the area soon became known as "the walled city".
In addition to the warehouses, the
Empire Stores
Empire Stores is a former warehouse complex along the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park within the neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. It hosts a food hall and market operated by Time Out New York, which o ...
were constructed between 1870 and 1885.
In 1883, the
Brooklyn Bridge was opened. While the Brooklyn Bridge formed a needed link between Manhattan and Brooklyn, it also disrupted ferry traffic, which reported sharp drops in patronage. In addition, the bridge bypassed the waterfront, spurring more inland development and neglecting the waterfront.
The
Manhattan Bridge, which opened in 1909, further disrupted trade to this section of the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
. The addition of these two crucial bridges resulted in the demise of this waterfront and the closing of the Fulton Ferry Landing in 1924.
The construction of the
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, also called the Esplanade, is a -long platform and pedestrian walkway cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278) in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. With views of ...
in 1950, and the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
(BQE) underneath it in 1954, posed another barrier to accessing the waterfront from Brooklyn Heights.
Throughout the 1950s, over 130 warehouses and 25 smaller "finger piers" were demolished along Brooklyn's waterfront. To accommodate larger ships and cargo, the New York Dock Company built 13 new piers between 1956 and 1964, comprising what is now Piers 1–3 and 5–6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
However, as trade technology advanced, so did trade routes. By the 1970s, much of the Brooklyn waterfront developments were largely barren and decrepit, causing the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
to end cargo ship operations in 1983.
Many of these warehouses were demolished or abandoned by the end of the 20th century.
One of the last tenants, the New York State Labor Department, continued to occupy a warehouse until 1996.
The warehouses on the piers comprising Brooklyn Bridge Park were not demolished until construction began on the park in 2008.
Planning
In 1984, shortly after closing cargo ship operations on this stretch of waterfront, the Port Authority decided to sell the vacant piers for commercial development. In response to these plans, the not-for-profit organization Friends of Fulton Ferry Landing was established in 1985, conceiving the idea of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
At the time of the piers' sale, it was estimated that the of docklands between Piers 1 and 6 were worth several billion dollars. As early as 1981, developer
David Walentas had proposed redeveloping the warehouses as part of a commercial development, but his plans were complicated by a political dispute, and then the
stock market crash of 1987.
This gave rise to a protracted dispute over a parcel of land at the site. The Port Authority wanted to create a riverside residential development with between 2,200 and 8,800 housing units, surrounded by a park. The Brooklyn Heights Association wanted the park to occupy the majority of the land, , with hotels and restaurants spread across the length of the park.
As the Friends of Fulton Ferry Landing grew, its name was changed in 1989 to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition, an organization dedicated to advocating for the park's creation, which is now known as the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. That year, the coalition petitioned Mayor-elect
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office.
Before enteri ...
and Governor
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
to prevent the Port Authority from immediately selling the site to developers
Larry Silverstein
Larry A. Silverstein (born May 30, 1931) is an American businessman. Among his real estate projects, he is the developer of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, as well as one of New York's tallest resident ...
and
Arthur G. Cohen
Arthur George Cohen (April 23, 1930 – August 9, 2014) was an American businessman and real estate developer in New York City.
Early life and education
Cohen was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Frances (née Kostic ...
, who were in talks with the Port Authority to purchase of land for the riverside development. Rather, the coalition wanted Dinkins and Cuomo to allow an alternative plan to be developed. The coalition called for the creation of a special authority, similar to the
Battery Park City Authority, to take control of the site.
By 1996, the Port Authority was planning to sell or lease Piers 1 through 5, which were losing money year over year. With planning for the waterfront commencing, Brooklyn Borough President
Howard Golden
Howard Golden (born November 6, 1925) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as the Borough President of Brooklyn from January 3, 1977 to December 31, 2001. He concurrently served as chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Pa ...
established the Brooklyn Waterfront Local Development Corporation (LDC) in 1998 to complete a year-long planning process for Brooklyn Bridge Park.
New York State Senator
Martin Connor and Assemblywoman
Joan Millman secured $1 million in funding, and the LDC began an intense public outreach process.
However this was complicated by various disagreements among members of the LDC, as well as a dispute over why the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy was not part of the LDC.
Furthermore, Walentas had announced a new development plan for the area, which would not interfere with the proposed park. Due to strong community opposition, his plan was rejected by the city in December 1999. By February 2000, the Port Authority had agreed to let the piers be developed as a park, rather than for residential or commercial use. Simultaneously, park planners proposed restoring a cove at the site of Walentas's now-canceled development, expanding the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park by .
Various disputes emerged during the planning process. The most serious disagreement concerned one key aspect of the project: the inclusion of luxury housing units.
While supporters stated that the housing would help fund the park, opponents argued that it was a "
Faustian bargain
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroad ...
" that would set a precedent for privately owned public parks,
and that the inclusion of housing would no longer make the Brooklyn Bridge Park a true park. There were also disputes over whether to place
Jane's Carousel within the park; Walentas and his wife Jane had purchased the carousel, built in 1922, at auction at
Idora Park, Youngstown
Idora Park (1899–1984) was a northeastern Ohio amusement park popularly known as "Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground."
Built by the Youngstown Park and Falls Street Railway Company, the park's expansion coincided with the ...
and had wanted to include it in their now-canceled development.
While the Walentases now wanted to include the carousel within the park, many residents preferred the park remain a quiet open space. Ultimately, the carousel was included in the park plans, and it opened in 2011.
Design
The park development efforts culminated in the Brooklyn Bridge Park Illustrative Master Plan, published in September 2000.
Subsequently, in January 2001, New York governor
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
announced that the state would contribute $87 million of the then-projected construction cost of $150 million. This coincided with the acquisition of the final plot of land that was needed for the park.
On May 2, 2002, Pataki and New York City mayor
Michael Bloomberg signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) wherein New York State and the City of New York agreed to create, develop, and operate Brooklyn Bridge Park on of the East River waterfront, stretching from Atlantic Avenue to Jay Street.
The MOU also formed the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) to develop the park, following the guidelines as established by the Illustrative Master Plan.
To begin the first phase of construction, New York State, New York City, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contributed a portion of the $360 million of capital funding for a complete park build out. To ensure the park would be fiscally sustainable throughout the years, the MOU mandated that all park maintenance and operations are required to be economically self-sufficient, financed through revenues from commercial and residential development within the site.
The entirety of the first two phases of the park, including the Main Street dog run, both beach portions and adjacent playgrounds were designed
in house
Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
by
NYC Parks landscape architects.
In 2004, BBPDC hired
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., a landscape architecture firm, to plan, design, and prepare a master plan for the full development of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The park's master plan, unveiled that December, included landscape features such as hills, open plazas, canals, and marshes, as well as recreation features like sports fields, kayaking areas, a waterfront promenade, and playgrounds. The plan also included a hotel, restaurants, stores, and residential projects at the Dumbo and Atlantic Avenue ends of the park.
A model of the proposed park was released the following year,
and by 2006, the Port Authority had transferred ownership of its piers to BBPDC. The new plans were opposed by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund and the
Sierra Club, which objected to the inclusion of housing within the park and filed a lawsuit in 2006 to stop the plans.
A state judge dismissed the lawsuit ruling that the Defense Fund's claim that the proposed housing violated the state's "public trust" doctrine had no merit since these sites had never been intended to become parkland. On the other end of the spectrum, urban planner
Fred Kent lamented the park plans as a missed opportunity for development on the waterfront.
The General Project Plan, approved in 2006, was modified in 2010.
In 2011, a new MOU was signed, granting further funding for parkland construction and outlining the requirements for commercial and residential development.
Construction
![Bkln Bridge Park nite construction jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Bkln_Bridge_Park_nite_construction_jeh.jpg)
The first work on the Brooklyn Bridge Park was the demolition in 2007 of the Purchase Building, a warehouse beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It was to be demolished to make way for an expanded vista at the park.
Construction of the park itself began on January 28, 2008,
using reclaimed soil from the new
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
's construction.
Excavations for the first part of the park, Pier 1, revealed artifacts from the Jewell Milling Company, a business that occupied the site in the 19th century.
The project used soil and excess materials from other construction projects around the city, such as the rebuilding of the
Willis Avenue Bridge
The Willis Avenue Bridge is a swing bridge that carries road traffic northbound (and bicycles and pedestrians both ways) over the Harlem River between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, United States. It connects First ...
and
Roosevelt Island Bridge
The Roosevelt Island Bridge is a tower drive vertical lift bridge that connects Roosevelt Island in Manhattan to Astoria in Queens, crossing the East Channel of the East River. It is the sole route to the island for vehicular and foot traffic ...
, as well as
East Side Access
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from its Main Line in Queens into a new station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. A project of the Metropol ...
. The park was described as the "most important public space" to be built in Brooklyn in over a century, akin to
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
in the late 19th century.
Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park was closed in early 2010 for renovations, and was
devolved
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...
to Brooklyn Bridge Park's control.
The first of park opened in March 2010 at Pier 1 and contained waterfront walkways, a playground, lookout, and lawn.
Later that summer nearly of parkland opened on Pier 6 and the Pier 2 uplands, bringing playgrounds, sand volleyball courts, concessionaires, and natural habitats to the park.
After Piers 1 and 6 were opened to the public, a nonprofit corporation sharing a name with the park was established to continue parkland construction and to plan for park maintenance and operation. The Empire–Fulton Ferry section, including Jane's Carousel, reopened in September 2011. The same year, Brooklyn Bridge Park won the
Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...
silver medal. Pier 5 subsequently opened in December 2012,
followed by the Pier 3 terrace in November 2013
and Piers 2 and 4 in May 2014.
Subsequently, the Main Street Park was renovated and expanded in August 2015,
and the Pier 6 landscape opened in late 2015.
The Tobacco Warehouse was also converted to a performance space in 2015,
and Empire Stores opened the following year.
By the time Pier 3 opened in July 2018, the park was 90% complete. At that point, only three sections remained to be opened: the Pier 2 uplands; a permanent swimming pool at Squibb Park; and the area under the Brooklyn Bridge, between the Empire–Fulton Ferry section and the rest of the park.
Since opening, the park has led to the construction of residential developments with some of the most expensive housing units in Brooklyn.
This included a $19.2 million penthouse, which became the most expensive home in Brooklyn when it was put up for sale in 2017. However, during the development of Brooklyn Bridge Park, groups filed several lawsuits to stop the construction of various developments in the park. A 2014 lawsuit, alleging that a hotel at Pier 1 was too tall, was dismissed in June 2015.
Two other suits to halt the construction of an adjacent
condominium complex were dismissed in September 2015
and in June 2016.
A fourth lawsuit concerning two residential buildings at Pier 6 resulted in a settlement in May 2015 where the heights of these buildings were reduced.
Park sections
Brooklyn Bridge Park spans of the East River waterfront in the
Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...
and
Dumbo
''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...
neighborhoods of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. The park is divided into eleven sections: Piers 1 through 6;
Fulton Ferry Landing; Brooklyn Bridge Plaza; Empire Fulton Ferry; Main Street; and John Street.
Each of these sections features unique
topographies, plantings, amenities, and cultural artifacts and installations,
and the
Brooklyn–Queens Greenway spans the park, as does the
Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behin ...
.
The park includes engineering features such as a water garden used as a storm-reclamation system, a series of hills to block noise from the BQE, and several areas designed with
microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...
s. Several parts of the park have reused design features from the former warehouses, such as steel
trellises and wood.
The park's design includes -high hills between Piers 2–5, which block noise from the BQE viaduct to the east. The hills were estimated to reduce the noise from the BQE from 75 decibels to 68 decibels. The park also incorporates several natural habitats, which have attracted several wildlife species, including the native but now-rare
two-spotted lady beetle.
According to landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park's design is "guided by the concept of 'post-industrial nature...
nduses unabashedly man-made landscapes to kick-start new site ecologies that can thrive and evolve in a heavy-use urban setting."
Above all, the park is meant to serve as a vital threshold connecting the city and the East River. "We realized this park wasn't about scenery," Van Valkenburgh said, "The nature of this park is the river." Van Valkenburgh associate Matthew Urbanski said, "We hope people rethink how to use public spaces after using this park."
Pier 1 and Fulton Ferry Landing
Pier 1 was the first section of parkland, having opened in March 2010. It is located directly south of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of the park.
The pier is Brooklyn Bridge Park's largest and is the only one constructed on filled land rather than
pilings
A deep foundation is a type of foundation (architecture), foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a ...
. The area includes two landscaped lawns overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge and
New York Harbor, a
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
with native plants, a playground, a granite lookout, a waterfront walkway, and various food and drink concessions.
Fulton Ferry Landing is directly adjacent to Pier 1, on the site of Brooklyn's first ferry landing, which opened in 1642.
Reopened to the public in 1997, Fulton Ferry Landing provides views of the Manhattan skyline and houses the classical music venue
Bargemusic
Bargemusic, formally known as ''Bargemusic, Ltd.'' is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge.
His ...
.
The landing includes an old
fireboat
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...
house, which formerly housed the
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory between 2001 and 2018. , the fireboat house has been run by two concessionaires. The
New York Water Taxi
New York Water Taxi (NYWT) is a water taxi service based in New York City. It offers sightseeing, charter and commuter services mainly to points along the East River and Hudson River. It is one of several private operators of ferries, sightseei ...
and
NYC Ferry
NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...
are also accessible from the landing.
The landing contains railings upon which are engraved the
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
poem "
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", as well as a deck with bronze
reliefs of historic events nearby. A pavilion adjacent to the fireboat house was proposed for Fulton Ferry Landing in 2019, but was delayed due to objections by the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
.
Squibb Park Bridge, a pedestrian bridge constructed in early 2013, connected Brooklyn Heights' Squibb Park to Pier 1, providing one of several links between Brooklyn Heights and Brooklyn Bridge Park. The bridge was designed to be lightweight and flexible, providing a bouncy feeling to visitors walking over it. However, the bridge bounced too much, and as a result, was closed for renovations in 2014 to strengthen the structure and allow
ADA
Ada may refer to:
Places
Africa
* Ada Foah, a town in Ghana
* Ada (Ghana parliament constituency)
* Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria
Asia
* Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...
access. The renovations were completed in March 2017, but the bridge was closed again in July 2018, and park officials later decided to replace the wooden bridge with a steel replica.
The original bridge was torn down in October 2019; the steel replica was completed in May 2020.
Pierhouse and 1 Hotel
At the eastern edge of Pier 1 is a 108-unit condominium development called Pierhouse,
as well as a 194-key hotel called 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, both developed by
Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers is a company which designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges financing for residential and commercial properties in the United States. In 2020, the company was the fifth largest home builder in the United States, based on home ...
.
The developments are designed to blend in with the park design and help pay for the park's maintenance,
but both have been controversial. As originally stipulated in the master plan, the park was to be funded partially by the sale of housing units at the boundary of Pier 1.
The 2005 draft
environmental impact statement (EIS) proposed, among other things, a residential building that was to replace some warehouses. However, the final EIS was edited to make the building only high.
Construction on the projects began in 2013 after Toll Brothers won the competition to design the structures. Residents filed a lawsuit in 2014, claiming that the hotel's bulkheads exceeded the height limit for the site, but the lawsuit was dismissed the following June on the grounds that no rules were being violated.
Construction on the Pierhouse units was stopped temporarily in January 2015 after its developers proposed raising the building's roof by ; opponents claimed that the development would block the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. A lawsuit to prevent the completion of the Pierhouse was dismissed in September 2015,
as was a subsequent lawsuit, in June 2016.
The first residents of Pierhouse moved into the building in September 2016, and the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge was opened the following February.
File:Books Beneath the Bridge reading at Brooklyn Bridge Park.jpg, Books Beneath the Bridge reading at the Granite Prospect
File:World Science Fesitval on Harbor View Lawn.jpg, World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is an annual science festival produced by the World Science Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. There is also an Asia-Pacific event held in Brisbane, Australia.
The foun ...
on Harbor View Lawn of Pier 1
File:Telescopes at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1.jpg, Free stargazing on Pier 1 sponsored by the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York
File:The Importance of Being Earnest on Harbor View Lawn.jpg, The Importance of Being Earnest performed by New York Classical Theatre on Harbor View Lawn
Pier 2
![USA-NYC-Brooklyn Bridge Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/USA-NYC-Brooklyn_Bridge_Park.jpg)
A former warehouse dock, the Pier 2 opened in May 2014 and is dedicated to active recreation.
The pier is surrounded by a waterfront walkway and includes
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
,
handball,
bocce
(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancie ...
, and
shuffleboard
Shuffleboard (more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as floor shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a ma ...
courts; artificial turf; swings; fitness bars; and picnic tables. It also includes restrooms, lockers, bike racks, and water fountains. A warehouse roof, preserved from when the pier was operated by the Port Authority, partially covers the pier. Additionally, Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse operates a free summer
kayaking program within the covered inlet. There is also a
roller rink
A roller rink is a hard surface usually consisting of hardwood or concrete, used for roller skating or inline skating. This includes roller hockey, speed skating, roller derby, and individual recreational skating. Roller rinks can be located ...
on Pie 2.
A pop-up public
swimming pool was placed at Pier 2 every summer from 2012 through 2018. The temporary pool was originally slated to be demolished at the end of the 2016 summer season but was kept for two more years due to high demand and popularity. The pop-up pool closed by the end of the 2018 season and was demolished, to be replaced by the Pier 2 uplands, and construction started on a new permanent pool in the nearby Squibb Park.
Pier 3 and Greenway Terrace
In November 2013, the Greenway Terrace opened on the shoreline adjacent to Pier 3. The terrace contains expansive lawns, a granite terrace, and the first sound-attenuating hill within the park.
The granite terrace features salvaged granite blocks within planted areas, surrounded by trees. The granite was salvaged from reconstruction work on the
Roosevelt Island Bridge
The Roosevelt Island Bridge is a tower drive vertical lift bridge that connects Roosevelt Island in Manhattan to Astoria in Queens, crossing the East Channel of the East River. It is the sole route to the island for vehicular and foot traffic ...
and
Willis Avenue Bridge
The Willis Avenue Bridge is a swing bridge that carries road traffic northbound (and bicycles and pedestrians both ways) over the Harlem River between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, United States. It connects First ...
. Working in partnership with NYC Parks, Brooklyn Bridge Park received surplus granite from the bridge reconstruction projects, adding to its sustainable features.
Additionally, the Pier 3 hill was formed with salvaged material from the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
's
East Side Access
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from its Main Line in Queens into a new station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. A project of the Metropol ...
tunneling project.
The hills were also raised through the installation of foam blocks.
The Hill was created to help mitigate noise from the nearby Brooklyn Queens Expressway, as well as sheltering the park from Furman Street and Brooklyn Heights.
''Dahn Vo: We the People,'' a public art installation inspired by the
Statue of Liberty, was on display on Pier 3 from May to December 2014. The sculpture was a copper replica of the statue in 250 parts fabricated over the course of four years using the original techniques and materials. Visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park saw a replica of the draped sleeve of the statue's arm which holds the golden torch.
On October 20, 2016, construction started on Pier 3. The pier, which extends outward from Greenway Terrace, is in area and contains the park's only lawn, a maze of mirrors, sound installations, climbable artifacts, and stone seating. It opened on July 11, 2018.
The pier includes a playground with historic
bollards
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...
preserved from the pier's original industrial use.
Pier 4
Pier 4, completed in May 2014, was repurposed from a former railroad
car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a t ...
bridge that had rotted and sunk into the East River. Intended as a wildlife preserve, the pier is planted with native flora, and the beach contains seven tidal pools, some of which are open to the public.
In addition, Pier 4 contains boat launches.
A nature preserve called Bird Island is located off the shore of Pier 4.
Bird Island contains shrubs, grasses, and trees from salt habitats, as well as three tide pools as an added ecological element. An
Osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
platform has been installed to attract large fishing birds. Rip rap stones surround the edge of the island to buffer the beach.
Native birds started using the beach once it opened.
Pier 5
On December 13, 2012, Pier 5 officially opened with three athletic fields, two playgrounds and a picnic area, which cover acres and cost $26 million to develop.
The
artificial turf fields can be used for soccer, lacrosse, Frisbee, cricket, and rugby by youth and adult leagues and by schools.
St. Francis College started hosting its
Division I men's soccer home games at Pier 5, and the first
Division I game at Pier 5 was held on September 10, 2013. The inland portion of Pier 5 features 57 picnic tables, 24 grills, tetherball courts, and a child-size telescope.
The Pier 5 uplands opened in June 2017.
Pier 5 contains a
marina which opened in May 2016. After reports of rough water conditions, a new wave-attenuation system was installed at the site and completed in May 2019. The marina also has a floating dock. Pier 5's marina was developed and operated by Edgewater Resources, a marina construction and management company. The community boating program offers free and low-cost kayaking, fishing, and sailing programs, and two percent of revenue is used to fund these programs.
In addition, a boathouse near the marina was completed in 2018.
Pier 6
In mid-2010, Pier 6, located at the intersection of Furman Street and Atlantic Avenue (at the site of
South Ferry), was the second section of parkland to open.
Pier 6 has a diverse array of amenities, including sand volleyball courts, concessionaires, a dog run, and plantings.
The pier contains four themed playgrounds: Swing Valley, Slide Mountain, Sandbox Village, and Water Lab, which collectively span . Pier 6's flora is mostly composed of native plantings, which include a marsh garden as well as a lawn.
The Pier 6's landscape occupies the outer two-thirds of the pier. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, it includes large lawns for events and programs and planted areas to complement the play areas on Piers 5 and 6. There is a shaded area for visitors. The landscaped area of Pier 6 opened in late 2015. The plan originally included a viewing platform at the northwest corner, designed by
Bjarke Ingels Group. However, when the landscaped area opened, the proposed viewing platform had not yet been constructed because of a lack of funding.
Several historic boats have been moored temporarily near Pier 6, but , the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation was seeking a boat for permanent display.
At the eastern edge of Pier 6, there are three developments. The Landing, a 15-story
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...
and market-rate apartment building with 140 units, and Quay Tower, a 28-story
condo
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
building with 126 units, both opened in 2018.
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, a converted warehouse, is also located on Pier 6; it was completed in 2007 and contains 449 units.
Pier 6 has been positively regarded for the most part. However, there have been some complaints about the pier entrance's proximity to the BQE ramps, which have been described as a safety concern. In addition, in the park's early years, several groups unsuccessfully sued to prevent the development of the residential developments at Pier 6.
Residents filed a lawsuit in August 2014 to try to stop these developments from being built, but a legal settlement in May 2015 allowed these towers to be built, with height restrictions.
Main Street
Spanning of the easternmost section of parkland, underneath the Manhattan Bridge,
Main Street opened in December 2002 and was originally operated by NYC Parks.
It came under the jurisdiction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation on December 1, 2010.
Main Street features a nautical-themed playground, a
dog run
A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners.
Description
Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a 4' to 6' fence, separate double-gated ...
and expansive lawns that provide views of the Manhattan skyline.
The Main Street portion of the park was renovated in 2015. The Main Street renovation included an expanded lawn, an upgraded dog run, improved pedestrian and bicycle circulation, an entry plaza at Washington Street and a
rock climbing wall.
The project also entailed the construction of John Street Park, which includes a lawn, pathways and a salt marsh.
In April 2016, a company called the Cliffs opened DUMBO Boulders, a
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help se ...
area at Main Street. With a capacity of 250 climbers, it was the largest bouldering facility in North America when it opened.
Empire–Fulton Ferry
The Empire–Fulton Ferry section of the park is of waterfront parkland that is directly adjacent to Main Street to the west. It connects to Pier 1 to the south.
This part of the park was formerly a state park, but was incorporated into Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2010.
It contains a lawn with picnic areas, as well as a promenade facing the East River.
Two Civil-War era structures, the Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores, are located on the site; both are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Tobacco Warehouse
Until 2010, the Tobacco Warehouse, which lacked a roof, was part of the Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park. That year, the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
(NPS) designated
St. Ann's Warehouse, a venue for theater and community use located across the street, as the lessee for the Tobacco Warehouse. The proposed agreement came with stipulations since the park had received some federal funding. The city redrew the zoning maps thus situating the warehouse on city property, leading to a lawsuit by opponents. The NPS's move to designate St. Ann's as the lessee for the warehouse was revoked by court order in 2011. The following year, the city reached an agreement where it would give the warehouse to St. Ann's in exchange for constructing an additional of parkland underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
A design for the theater was revealed in 2013. In its roofless state, the Tobacco Warehouse was shaped like a
trapezoid
A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium ().
A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eu ...
, composed of a rectangle and adjacent triangle. Marvel Architects designed a enclosed performance space; a community area; and various rooms for community, educational, and office use. The design called for the preservation of the building's original brick walls, and for the creation of a roofless landscaped area in the warehouse's triangular section, which would serve both as a publicly accessible park space and as an entrance to the theater.
The warehouse opened in 2015.
Empire Stores
Empire Stores
Empire Stores is a former warehouse complex along the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park within the neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. It hosts a food hall and market operated by Time Out New York, which o ...
comprises seven buildings with a total of of space.
In 2013, Brooklyn developer Midtown Equities was selected to redevelop the abandoned Empire Stores warehouses into a mix of commercial and office space, designed by
Studio V Architecture. The plan contained commercial and office space; restaurants and event areas; and a publicly accessible central passageway, courtyard, and rooftop.
Many of the original design features were retained, such as schist walls, iron hoisting wheels, and coffee chutes.
Midtown Equities originally intended to open Empire Stores in 2015. The flagship West Elm store, opened in August 2016, was the first tenant to open in Empire Stores.
followed by the
Brooklyn Historical Society
The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH, formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) is a museum, library, and educational center founded in 1863 that preserves and encourages the study of Brooklyn's 400-year history. The center's Romanesque ...
's Dumbo exhibition space in May 2017. Upon the opening of other shops, Empire Stores' waterfront location quickly became a popular spot for
selfie
A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as ...
s, especially those with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
Western area
After reconstruction, the western part of the park opened in mid-2011 with new park plantings, improved lighting and the restored Jane's Carousel donated by
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and Jane Walentas as a gift to the park.
It is housed in an acrylic and steel pavilion designed by French architect
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and '' Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has o ...
, which opened September 15, 2011.
The carousel is maintained and operated by the nonprofit Friends of Jane's Carousel.
In October 2016, a large, sign with the word "DUMBO" on it was placed in the John Street area of the park. The sign, called the DUMBO Reflector, is created by neighborhood artist David Crumley. The interactive sign allows for people in the area to use
hashtags to interact with the sign's displays.
The
River Café is located in the western part of the Empire–Fulton Ferry section, directly southwest of the Brooklyn Bridge and north of Pier 1.
One of the last parts of Brooklyn Bridge Park remaining to be constructed is a plaza under Brooklyn Bridge, which is to be located on the site of the Purchase Building that was destroyed in 2008. However, , there were disputes over what to do with the space, since some area residents wanted to discuss other options for the site. The site had also been proposed as the possible location of an ice skating rink, but this was also in dispute.
Brooklyn Bridge Park 2.jpg, Manhattan skyline viewed from Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan at night 4.jpg, Night view of one of the piers
Brooklyn New York photo D Ramey Logan.jpg, Park and promenade viewed from Manhattan
BrooklynBridge 11.jpg, Statue of Liberty viewed from the park
Transportation
The and buses serve the southern sections of the park, while the bus serves the northern sections. The closest
New York City Subway station is located at
Clark Street, along Henry Street, serving the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhatta ...
(). The subway tunnel runs underneath Pier 2, and its path can be approximated by the absence of pilings under the pier. Also within the park, two canals mark the location of the
Cranberry Street Tunnel
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...
, used by the .
Brooklyn Bridge Park's Piers 1 and 6 have been served by
NYC Ferry
NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...
's South Brooklyn route since 2017.
NYC Ferry's East River route also serves Pier 1.
See also
*
10-Minute Walk
The 10-Minute Walk, also known as the 10-Minute Walk to a Park, refers to a grassroots parks-advocacy movement to ensure that everyone in the United States lives within a ten-minute walk to a high-quality park or green space. The effort was adop ...
*
List of New York City parks
This is a list of New York City parks. Three entities manage parks within New York City, each with its own responsibilities:
* Federal – US National Park Service (NPS) - both open-space and historic properties
* State – New York State Of ...
*
Park conservancy
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
{{authority control
2010 establishments in New York City
Brooklyn Heights
East River
Empire State Development Corporation
Parks in Brooklyn
Piers in New York City
Protected areas established in 2010
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United States
Dumbo, Brooklyn