Description
Brooklyn Bridge Park is a long green strip on the Brooklyn side of the East River, built on the old piers of the waterfront. It runs for 1.3 miles from near the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue, and offers the best open-air view of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Each pier has its own character. Pier 1, the first to open, has waterfront walkways, a playground and a lawn. Pier 6 has four themed playgrounds, Swing Valley, Slide Mountain, Sandbox Village and Water Lab, and sand volleyball courts. Pier 5 has a marina and community boating programs, with kayaking among them.
Near the Brooklyn Bridge, don't miss Jane's Carousel, built in 1922 and bought at auction from an amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio. It turns inside a glass pavilion between the two bridges. Next to it the Tobacco Warehouse, a Civil War era structure, stands as a brick shell open to the sky.
The artificial hills on Pier 3 were made with soil from city construction sites. Work began in 2008, partly with soil dug out for the new World Trade Center. A 450-foot bridge links the park to Brooklyn Heights.
On the night of August 29, 1776, George Washington's beaten army slipped across the East River from this shore, escaping the British under cover of darkness. Two centuries later this New York waterfront was a row of abandoned piers.
For centuries it had been Brooklyn's ferry landing, then a wall of warehouses. The bridges killed the ferries, bigger ships and new routes killed the docks, and in 1983 the Port Authority stopped cargo operations for good.
Neighbors fought for years to get a park instead of towers. The compromise is still debated: a few residential buildings and a hotel at the edges help pay for its upkeep. The park was finished in December 2021.
Each pier has its own character. Pier 1, the first to open, has waterfront walkways, a playground and a lawn. Pier 6 has four themed playgrounds, Swing Valley, Slide Mountain, Sandbox Village and Water Lab, and sand volleyball courts. Pier 5 has a marina and community boating programs, with kayaking among them.
Near the Brooklyn Bridge, don't miss Jane's Carousel, built in 1922 and bought at auction from an amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio. It turns inside a glass pavilion between the two bridges. Next to it the Tobacco Warehouse, a Civil War era structure, stands as a brick shell open to the sky.
The artificial hills on Pier 3 were made with soil from city construction sites. Work began in 2008, partly with soil dug out for the new World Trade Center. A 450-foot bridge links the park to Brooklyn Heights.
On the night of August 29, 1776, George Washington's beaten army slipped across the East River from this shore, escaping the British under cover of darkness. Two centuries later this New York waterfront was a row of abandoned piers.
For centuries it had been Brooklyn's ferry landing, then a wall of warehouses. The bridges killed the ferries, bigger ships and new routes killed the docks, and in 1983 the Port Authority stopped cargo operations for good.
Neighbors fought for years to get a park instead of towers. The compromise is still debated: a few residential buildings and a hotel at the edges help pay for its upkeep. The park was finished in December 2021.