Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Brooklyn Bridge Park is a public park under construction in New York City and one of the most ambitious park projects in Brooklyn since the completion of the Prospect Park.

Location

The park is located on the Brooklyn shore of the East River between Jay Street to the north, and Atlantic Avenue to the south and should, when finished, have a total area of about 34 hectares and a length of about two kilometers. The park passes under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge, located in the northern third of the park, and is bordered by the districts of Dumbo ( abbreviation for the residential area around the bridge: Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass ), Fulton Ferry and Brooklyn Heights.

History

The area at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the longest- populated areas in Brooklyn and first ferry had existed since 1642 between Fulton Street and Manhattan. In the aftermath of the shore area was where the park is located, has become an important trade hub, and many companies settled along the water. However, the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 led to the decline of ferry and the surrounding farms, and at the instigation of the New York Dock Company new port facilities and warehouses were built. During the first half of the 20th century the port operation flourished, but after the Second World War, the port facilities were no longer able to respond to larger cargo ships and the advent of the container. The built in 1950s Brooklyn - Queens Expressway also cut off the shore area from the hinterland. In 1983, the Port Authority to operate an on the grounds of the park. Although there were plans for a park soon after the closure of the port facilities, the construction was decided in 2002 by a Memorandum of Understanding between the then Governor of New York State, George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The construction work for the first phase began in January 2009, and at the moment (July 2010 ) are completed only parts of the park.

Design

The master plan for the park was designed by a team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh landscape architects Associates, which is also responsible for other parks in New York City.

The park consists of a narrow strip of shore and south of the Brooklyn Bridge, six piers projecting into the East River. The piers are numbered, with the northernmost Pier 1, located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, and Pier 6, the southernmost, at the terminus of Atlantic Avenue, is. All along the North Südausdehnung the park a continuous bike and pedestrian path will run, but the park is completed at the moment only in sections and is accessible only at individual points, as on the Atlantic Avenue to the south, the Fulton Street and the Brooklyn Bridge Main Street in the north.

The park will consist of various sections with active and passive recreational activities. From north to south, the park is divided as follows:

Just north of the Manhattan Bridge:

  • John Street (planned) - lawn

Between Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge:

  • Main Street ( accessible ) - an already existing urban park with a lawn and playground
  • Empire Fulton Ferry ( closed for renovations ) - existing park with a lawn and Jane's Carousel
  • Brooklyn Bridge Plaza (planned), provided for events such as markets, ice skating

South of the Brooklyn Bridge:

  • Fulton Ferry Landing ( accessible ) pier with access to the water taxi
  • Pier 1 ( available ) - lawn playground and panoramic hill overlooking the Manhattan skyline
  • Pier 2 (planned) - Ice skating sports such as basketball, bocce, ramp for boats.
  • Pier 3 (planned) - lawn and picnic
  • Pier 4 (completed in 2011/2012 ) - protected, inaccessible plant habitat
  • Pier 5 (completion spring 2012 ) playing fields for soccer, hockey, among other things, a picnic
  • Pier 6 ( partially accessible ) - playground, park and docks for water taxis

Financing and maintenance

The park is being built with funds from the City and State of New York. Responsible for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the state Economic Development Authority Empire State Development Corporation. An important condition for the provision of funds for the construction was that the operation of the park must not be at the expense of taxpayers. The funds for the upkeep come to a small part of concessions for restaurants and snack bars, and a large portion of taxes which are generated by projects at Parkland. So about 10 percent of the park area for residential and commercial spaces are provided, which are required to pay taxes to the city for this purpose.

Prospect Park (Brooklyn) Dumbo (Brooklyn) Fulton Ferry (Brooklyn)
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