Development Planning Frederick Law Olmsted and
Calvert Vaux, who were also responsible for designing
Central Park and
Prospect Park, suggested the construction of
Eastern Parkway and Ocean Parkway to Brooklyn park commissioners in reports prepared in 1866. The proposed Ocean and Eastern parkways would connect Prospect Park with
Coney Island and
East New York, respectively. Their plan for the parkways were inspired by
boulevards such as
Unter den Linden in
Berlin and
Avenue Foch in
Paris. However, Ocean and Eastern Parkways were considered to be improvements over these two thoroughfares, since both would contain service roads separated from the main road by tree-lined medians. The
National Park Service cites Ocean Parkway as the first
parkway to be planned in the U.S., though Eastern Parkway was the first parkway to be constructed. Though this plan did not come to fruition, it spurred plans for other park and parkway systems in the United States. Vaux and Olmsted wrote in 1866 that they wanted the parkway to be "of a picturesque character [...] neither very straight nor very level, and should be bordered by a small belt of trees and shrubbery". The next year, the landscape architects wrote that the parkway would provide a "suggestion of the old country flavor" to people living along the parkway. On May 11, 1869, the
New York State Legislature authorized the then-independent city of Brooklyn to develop a highway or avenue from Prospect Park toward Coney Island. To fund the parkway's construction, a
tax assessment was imposed on all properties within of the boulevard. The Brooklyn city government also appointed a group of commissioners to seize property through
eminent domain and determine how much to compensate each landowner. The commissioners had finished calculating the compensation by February 1871. A state judge confirmed the commissioners' calculation that December, ruling that landowners be paid $252,788. The parkway's southern terminus was originally planned to be located at
Kings Highway. At the time, the Prospect Park Fair Ground Association (PPFGA) operated a racecourse along the parkway's route, the
Gravesend Race Track between Kings Highway and Avenue U. The association had convinced legislators to prevent the parkway's extension through the racetrack. The park commissioners approved plans for the boulevard's construction that October, and John Lefferts, Teunis G. Bergen, and William W. Moseley were appointed in mid-1872 to oversee Coney Island Boulevard's construction. The state legislature passed a bill in January 1873, officially designating the boulevard as Ocean Parkway. The next month, Brooklyn's Board of Supervisors was directed to auction off all property that lay on the parkway's
right of way.
Construction call box at the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue In April 1873, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution directing the Kings County treasurer to issue up to $300,000 in bonds for the construction of Ocean Parkway. Thomas McCann received the contract to pave the parkway between Prospect Park and Parkville Avenue, and Scrimshaw Paving Company received the contract to pave the section from Parkville Avenue to Kings Highway. Work on the gravel roadbed south of Church Avenue began in June, and the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that August that the parkway was already well-used. Brooklyn's park commissioners were invited to tour the northern half of the parkway in March 1874, and the parkway was completed that May, except for stone flagging. Prospect Park's chief engineer, John Y. Culyer, finished surveying the route of the parkway's southern extension in early 1874. Simultaneously, the state legislature passed a bill to extend the parkway southward. Governor
John Adams Dix modified the bill so the
bonds for the extension could not be issued until the following year. Despite the delays,
James S. T. Stranahan, the president of the Brooklyn Board of Park Commissioners, approved the creation of a special tax-assessment district in mid-1874. Property owners in the special district would pay a tax to fund the construction of the southern extension, which was projected to cost $295,525. Originally, the southern half of the parkway was planned to curve around the PPFGA's racetrack. The city of Brooklyn auctioned off 1,000 land lots in the right-of-way of the parkway's extension later that year. Brooklyn's park commissioners voted in November 1874 to adopt Culyer's design for the extension of Ocean Parkway, though there was still no money to begin extending the parkway. During mid-1875, the city's park commissioners began calculating the values of land for Ocean Parkway's extension, though construction was delayed while Brooklyn's park commissioners negotiated to acquire the PPFGA's racetrack. The racetrack's clubhouse was ultimately relocated west of the parkway. Brooklyn's park commissioners solicited bids for the Ocean Parkway extension in March 1876, and the Brooklyn Supervisors' Law Committee recommended the same month that $200,000 be appropriated for the extension's construction. The supervisors approved the sale of $200,000 in bonds that April. Initially, the Brooklyn city government issued $184,000 in bonds; the city did not issue the remaining $16,000 until the next year. The southern extension of Ocean Parkway to Coney Island was well underway by mid-1876. A large amount of swampland was infilled to make way for the parkway's extension, while a concourse was built at the parkway's southern end, on Coney Island Beach. Contractors also constructed a bridge across
Coney Island Creek, which was completed that June.
Completion and cost The extension of Ocean Parkway was finished on November 11, 1876, When Ocean Parkway was finished, the area was still relatively rural, with farms on either side of the parkway. The trees along the parkway had not grown to their full sizes, giving the parkway a barren appearance.
Heavy vehicles were banned from using the parkway's main road but were allowed to use the service roads. The parkway was often referred to as "the boulevard" or as "Coney Island Boulevard". The completion of Ocean Parkway contributed to further development in the Kensington neighborhood. A contemporary
Brooklyn Daily Eagle article described the boulevard as the "paradise of horsemen, and by far the finest drive in the country". and predicted that the parkway's presence would turn Coney Island into "the favorable suburban resort of the city" of Brooklyn.
The New York Times wrote in 1877 that the parkway was unrivaled "as a work of suburban embellishment". though the Kings County government controlled the parkway. For several years, there were disputes over who would pay for the parkway. There was a proposal in 1878 to have the city of Brooklyn pay the parkway's cost, but the New York State Legislature voted down the proposal. A similar proposal to divide the cost among all landowners in Brooklyn was put forth in 1879, but the state legislature refused this plan as well. The state legislature ultimately passed a law in 1882, allowing landowners within of Ocean Parkway to pay one-third of the parkway's cost. The remaining two-thirds would be paid by the Kings County government. The water mains were approximately long and supplied water from Prospect Park to neighborhoods further south. To preserve the parkway's appearance, state legislators passed a law in 1881, which banned the construction of steam railroads and streetcar lines with
level crossings on Ocean Parkway. The parkway also could not be raised or lowered to make way for railroads. The Ocean Parkway Transit Company proposed constructing a streetcar line along the parkway's eastern service road in 1888, though the plans elicited protests and were not approved. Other companies had similar problems constructing streetcar lines across the parkway. The
Nassau Electric Railroad was banned from installing streetcar tracks across the boulevard in the 1890s, even though two streetcar lines had already built tracks across the parkway. In another case, an underpass had to be built under the parkway for the
Church Avenue streetcar line; this was the only streetcar tunnel in Brooklyn. Brooklyn city officials announced plans in 1884 to repave Ocean Parkway with gravel, and the repaving took place the next year. Meanwhile, cyclists often used the parkway's western median to travel to and from Coney Island. There were proposals to convert one of the service roads into a bike path, These cyclists formed the Good Roads Association to raise $3,500 to construct the pavements for the bike paths. the Brooklyn park commissioners agreed to build a bike path within the western median of Ocean Parkway in April 1893, and work began that May. Five short sections of the bike path were paved in experimental materials: four were made of different types of gravel, and the fifth was paved in limestone. After a local cyclists' organization inspected the five test sections in late 1894, the city of Brooklyn decided to construct the rest of the pathway out of crushed gravel. The bike path was the first to be built in the United States. Originally, the bike path was wide In the two months after the bike path opened, an average of 2,000 people used it each day. Owing to the bike path's popularity, Brooklyn mayor
Frederick W. Wurster approved plans for a second bikeway on Ocean Parkway's eastern median in April 1896. Brooklyn's park commissioners began soliciting bids for the second path that month. The park commissioners also ordered cyclists to use the bike path and not the main road, though the decree elicited objections from cyclists. The city of Brooklyn completed the eastern bike path in June 1896. Drinking fountains and benches were added at regular intervals along the medians, and pedestrian shelters were built at the north and south ends of the parkway. The parkway itself remained a dirt road until 1897. As such, the state legislature provided $50,000 to improve Ocean Parkway during 1897. That April, Brooklyn's park commissioners awarded contracts to pave the main road from Prospect Park to
22nd Avenue (Bay Parkway) in macadam, as well as add concrete gutters along the main road. The same year, the commissioners also awarded a contract to pave the western service road, south of Kings Highway, with macadam. and the
Brooklyn Citizen alleged that the contractor for the west road had received the contract due to cronyism.
20th century The parkway continued to receive praise in the 20th century.
The Brooklyn Citizen wrote in 1902 that the parkway was better than "even the great thoroughfare of Budapest",
Andrássy Avenue,
1900s and 1910s In 1900, Brooklyn borough officials agreed to spend $3,000 to convert the main roadway between 22nd Avenue and Kings Highway into an automobile speedway. The speedway was paved with clay and loam, and the western bike path was also widened to match the width of the eastern bike path. Ocean Parkway's speedway was completed later that year, and automobile drivers were given exclusive use of the speedway during selected hours. Though the clay-and-loam pavement was optimal for racing, it also tended to become muddy after rainstorms. The
New-York Tribune wrote that the bridle path was often so overcrowded that horse carriages were forced onto the main roadway. The main roadway was reserved for "pleasure vehicles", while commercial vehicles used the western service road. State legislators drafted a bill in 1910 to give equestrians exclusive use of the Ocean Parkway speedway during selected hours; the bill was passed that May despite opposition from automobile drivers. NYC Parks subsequently banned all automobiles from the speedway. After the Long Island Automobile Club sued to overturn the ban, the
New York Court of Appeals revoked the equestrians' right to the exclusive use of the speedway in June 1912. City officials also regraded Ocean Parkway between Neptune and Coney Island avenues, which frequently flooded during high tides, during the early 1910s. By the end of the decade, many of the parkway's trees had died without being replaced, and the pavement was also in poor condition. There were proposals in 1918 to rename Ocean Parkway after the French military general
Joseph Joffre, as the parkway was frequently confused with
Ocean Avenue. The
New York City Board of Aldermen failed to act upon the renaming proposal.
1920s to early 1940s NYC Parks announced plans to repave the entirety of the main and western service roads in asphalt, add new trees, replace the sidewalk, and raise the bicycle and bridle paths in late 1919. The project was part of a $1.5 million program to improve parks and roads across Brooklyn. NYC Parks banned commercial vehicles from using the parkway between Park Circle and
Avenue U the next year, citing increasing congestion. NYC Parks hired several companies to repave Ocean Parkway in 1921. and the work was completed the following May, giving the thoroughfare permanent pavement for the first time. As part of the project, the main road was narrowed to between avenues J and W. Meanwhile, due to worsening congestion, the
New York City Police Department (NYPD) began stationing traffic guards at several intersections in the 1920s, and a traffic light was added at Kings Highway. There were also proposals for additional traffic signal towers on Ocean Parkway, as well as
traffic islands in the main roadway. Traffic commissioner
Grover Whalen proposed constructing a
movable bridge in 1924 to replace the existing bridge that carried Ocean Parkway over Coney Island Creek. The new bridge was never built, as Coney Island Creek was partially infilled east of Ocean Parkway in the late 1920s. Workers installed a trunk
water main along the parkway in 1927, requiring the partial closure of the bridle path. The next year, NYC Parks announced plans to pave the eastern service road in asphalt, though work was delayed for several months. In addition,
timed traffic lights were installed along the parkway. To encourage motorists to drive on the right-hand side of the parkway, the NYPD first painted
road markings onto the main roadway in 1929. The installation of traffic lights on Ocean Parkway contributed to congestion and vehicular crashes on parallel streets, as motorists sought to avoid the parkway's traffic lights. In addition, the intersection of
Prospect Avenue, Ocean Parkway, and Fort Hamilton Parkway had become one of the most congested in New York City by 1930. Few equestrians still used Ocean Parkway after all the roadways had been paved. By 1942, traffic at the intersection with Prospect Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway prompted the city's traffic engineers to redesign that intersection. As part of this redesign, the northbound (eastern) service road was reserved for traffic traveling to the
Gowanus Parkway (later Gowanus Expressway).
Mid-1940s to 1960s Additional traffic markings were painted onto Ocean Parkway's roadways between Park Circle and Surf Avenue in 1950. City officials announced plans in 1952 to increase speed limits to and retime the parkway's traffic signals, though these plans were not implemented for several years. City officials also sought to increase traffic flow by banning vehicles from parking on Ocean Parkway during rush hours. In addition, engineers investigated the possibility of relocating Ocean Parkway's traffic lights in 1955 after receiving complaints that the existing traffic signals, in the middle of the roadway, were hazardous. Many of the parkway's intersections were redesigned between 1960 and 1961. Workers added left-turn lanes, retimed traffic signals, and replaced the existing traffic lights in the middle of the roadway with signals suspended from mast arms. In addition, some of the medians were extended to reduce collisions between drivers in the main road and service roads. many motorists on the service roads were fined for not obeying the traffic signals. In advance of the
1964 New York World's Fair, workers also planted new trees along Ocean Parkway. Traffic commissioner
Henry Barnes added parking spaces to the service roads, and he removed parking spaces near intersections to improve visibility. As early as the 1940s, urban planner
Robert Moses had suggested constructing an expressway to connect Ocean and Gowanus parkways. Despite local opposition to the proposal, The plans initially called for the expressway to pass over Fort Hamilton Parkway and under Caton Avenue before terminating at the intersection of Beverley Road and Ocean Parkway. The Prospect Expressway was completed in 1962, replacing the section of Ocean Parkway north of Church Avenue. By the late 1960s, equestrian traffic had declined to almost nothing. As such, NYC Parks began removing the bridle path between Church and Foster avenues in 1967, saying that the path was a traffic hazard. The next year, the city's transportation administrator requested funds for the repaving of Ocean Parkway from Kings Highway to Church Avenue. The federal government would only pay for the repaving project if the lanes were widened; this would have entailed removing trees and adding
Jersey barriers. Residents objected to the removal of trees, and they also opposed leaving the parkway as-is, but they did support the installation of new curbs. The LPC had gained the authority to designate city parkland as scenic landmarks the preceding year. At the time, local residents worried that the parkway's medians would be modified or destroyed, Brooklyn borough president
Sebastian Leone, who opposed the Jersey barriers, said he would reject federal funding for the boulevard if the federal government required the barriers to be installed. The LPC designated the parkway as a landmark on January 28, 1975. After a short controversy over whether such a landmark was eligible for federal funds, the
Federal Highway Administration (FHA) said the landmark designation would not affect the parkway's federal funding. Afterward, the New York state government announced that Ocean Parkway was to be restored and repaved. The FHA approved plans for Ocean Parkway's reconstruction in March 1976, and officials announced that August that the state and U.S. governments would pay for the entire project. Work commenced on September 20, 1976. The first phase of the project, covering , The project also included new drainage systems, curbs, concrete roadbeds, and pavement. The state and U.S. governments allocated another $5.2 million to the project in November 1978, and the reconstruction was completed in 1980. Meanwhile, the construction of institutional buildings in the 1970s prompted local residents to ask that the Ocean Parkway corridor be
rezoned to preserve the area's residences. The area, which was originally proposed to cover only the area between Church Avenue and Avenue P, was subsequently expanded to include the area between Park Circle and Brighton Beach Avenue. The
New York City Planning Commission voted in December 1976 to rezone the corridor,
1980s and 1990s The
New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) relaxed parking regulations on Ocean Parkway in 1980 to allow
Orthodox Jewish residents to park on the service roads during
Shabbat, when Orthodox Jews were forbidden to use their cars. In addition, the NYCDOT added loading areas along the service roads. The parkway was included in the 1987 plan for the
Brooklyn–Queens Greenway, a pedestrian and bicycle path stretching across Brooklyn and
Queens. The greenway proposal was to connect Ocean Parkway, Prospect Park, and Eastern Parkway with other destinations in the two boroughs. The section of the bike path from Beverley Road to Church Avenue was reopened the next year as part of the construction of the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway. The reopened bike path included new signage and a pedestrian walkway next to it. and motorists routinely traveled above the speed limit of . Following a series of deadly vehicular crashes on Ocean Parkway, local residents began advocating for the NYCDOT to install
left turn signals along the parkway; according to
Brooklyn Community Board 14's district manager, the signals would cost $1.5 million. Additionally, in 1997, the NYCDOT proposed connecting the bike paths along Ocean and Belt parkways as part of a $200,000 program to create bikeways around the city.
21st century To improve pedestrian safety, the NYCDOT adjusted traffic lights in 2002 to give pedestrians extra time to cross the parkway. The interchange with Belt Parkway was also rebuilt. Despite being a major thoroughfare, Ocean Parkway retained its park-like character; one writer for
The New York Times wrote that "every layer of the boulevard is a world, separated from the next by trees". Starting in 2011, the NYCDOT installed countdown pedestrian signals along Ocean Parkway as well. As part of the
New York City Council's
participatory budgeting program, local residents voted in 2012 to request $200,000 from the City Council to upgrade the crosswalk at Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway. The upgrades would have increased pedestrian safety, but the state government initially refused to upgrade the crosswalk. The New York state government finally agreed to upgrade the Church Avenue intersection the next year, In addition, many of the parkway's trees were felled after they were damaged during
Hurricane Sandy. In 2016, an overhaul of traffic regulations at major intersections was proposed, including traffic signals for service roads and turn restrictions at multiple intersections. The regulations were unpopular among residents but went into effect at Kings Highway and Avenue J in late 2016. The project was finished in 2017, though some motorists ignored the new traffic restrictions. As part of the
Vision Zero program and to reduce traffic-related deaths, speed limits were lowered to , and speed cameras were installed. In addition, the NYCDOT announced plans in 2018 to rebuild the intersection of Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway, including new pedestrian islands and curb extensions. In 2019, NYC Parks received $4 million to renovate Ocean Parkway's bike lane between Avenue R and Avenue X, but the repairs were postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Construction on the bike path began in March 2023 and took one and a half years. == Neighborhood ==