Brooklyn Bridge Park

As a port 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, het Veer served as a crucial strategic location for George Washington and the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island. 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, which eventually became known as the Fulton Ferry Landing. The community continued to grow into the 19th century as Brooklyn Heights developed into a residential neighborhood, By the 1850s, Brooklyn City Railroad 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 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. further disrupted trade to this section of the East River. The addition of these two crucial bridges resulted in the demise of this waterfront and the closing of the Fulton Ferry Landing in 1924. and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) underneath it in 1954, posed another barrier to accessing the waterfront from Brooklyn Heights. The warehouses on the piers comprising Brooklyn Bridge Park were not demolished until construction began on the park in 2008. 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. 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 and Governor Mario Cuomo to prevent the Port Authority from immediately selling the site to developers Larry Silverstein and Arthur G. Cohen, 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. There was some opposition to the park on the basis that the area was dangerous and far removed from residential neighborhoods. 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 established the Brooklyn Waterfront Local Development Corporation (LDC) in 1998 to complete a year-long planning process for Brooklyn Bridge Park. 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. 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" 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 and had wanted to include it in their now-canceled development. 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 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. 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. 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. Several residential and commercial developments were also planned at the edges of the park, and the park's maintenance would be financed by payments in lieu of taxes from these developments. Construction of the park itself began on January 28, 2008, using reclaimed soil from the new World Trade Center's construction. The project used soil and excess materials from other construction projects around the city, such as the rebuilding of the Willis Avenue Bridge and Roosevelt Island Bridge, as well as East Side Access. The park was described as the "most important public space" to be built in Brooklyn in over a century, akin to Central Park in the late 19th century. Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park was closed in early 2010 for renovations, and was devolved 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 silver medal. Pier 5 subsequently opened in December 2012, 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 two restaurants opened at the marina in 2019. 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. and opened in December 2021. Operation Work on a new entrance pavilion at Pier 1 commenced in July 2023, and a pop-up skating rink called Glide opened at the park that December. After the park's completion, Michael Van Valkenburgh published a book about the park's development in 2024. Curbed architectural critic Justin Davidson wrote that the park was successful in part because Van Valkenburgh remained involved in the project long after it was complete. Davidson wrote that landscape features were combined to make the park "spectacular but un-precious, informal but highly artificial, tough enough to withstand crowds and violent weather". At the time, the park had 5 million annual visitors, of which only a third came from the surrounding neighborhood. and the Pier 1 pavilion opened in April 2025. Effects 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 and Dumbo neighborhoods of Brooklyn. 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. 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 microclimates. Several parts of the park have reused design features from the former warehouses, such as steel trellises and wood. The park also incorporates several natural habitats, which have attracted several wildlife species, including the native but now-rare two-spotted lady beetle. 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." Fulton Ferry Landing is directly adjacent to Pier 1, on the site of Brooklyn's first ferry landing, which opened in 1642. The New York Water Taxi and NYC Ferry are also accessible from the landing. 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. Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, a plaza underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, connects Pier 1 with the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of the 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 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. The entrance pavilion was finished in April 2025 and consists of three stone structures designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The structures are connected by a roof with photovoltaic panels, which has an oculus opening at its center. as well as a 194-key hotel called 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, both developed by Toll Brothers. and help pay for the park's maintenance, 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. 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. A lawsuit to prevent the completion of the Pierhouse was dismissed in September 2015, and the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge was opened the following February. File:World Science Fesitval on Harbor View Lawn.jpg|World Science Festival 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 and Financial District as seen from the park A former warehouse dock, the Pier 2 opened in May 2014 and is dedicated to active recreation. There is also a roller rink 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. Additionally, the Pier 3 hill was formed with salvaged material from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's East Side Access 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 preserved from the pier's original industrial use. 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, known as One 15 Marina, which opened in May 2016. There are 100 berths in the marina, as well as 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. 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. 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 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. New York Road Runners hosts a weekly Open Run at Pier 6. At the eastern edge of Pier 6, there are three developments. The Landing, a 15-story affordable housing and market-rate apartment building with 140 units, and Quay Tower, a 28-story condo 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. but a legal settlement in May 2015 allowed these towers to be built, with height restrictions. Main Street opened in December 2002 and was originally operated by NYC Parks. 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. 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. That year, the National Park Service (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. In its roofless state, the Tobacco Warehouse was shaped like a trapezoid, 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 comprises seven buildings with a total of of space. 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. The flagship West Elm store, opened in August 2016, was the first tenant to open in Empire Stores. followed by the Brooklyn Historical Society's Dumbo exhibition space in May 2017. Upon the opening of other shops, Empire Stores' waterfront location quickly became a popular spot for selfies, 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 and Jane Walentas as a gift to the park. 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 at Clark Street and Henry Street on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, which is served by the . 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, used by the . NYC Ferry's East River route also serves Pier 1. ==See also==