Brooklyn Bridge Park - Park Development

Park Development

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.

As the Friends of Fulton Ferry Landing grew, its name 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. 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 and visioning process for Brooklyn Bridge Park. With $1 million in funding secured by New York State Senator Martin Connor and Assemblywoman Joan Millman, the LDC began an intense public outreach process—these efforts culminated in the Brooklyn Bridge Park Illustrative Master Plan, published in September 2000.

On May 2, 2002 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which New York State and the City of New York agreed to create, develop, and operate Brooklyn Bridge Park on 85 acres 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 is fiscally sustainable throughout the years, the MOU mandates that all maintenance and operations of the park are required to be economically self-sufficient, financed through revenues from commercial and residential development within the site.

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. Subsequently, the park’s Master Plan was released in 2005 and the General Project Plan was approved in 2006 and then 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.

Park construction began on Monday, January 28, 2008. The first 6 acres of park opened in March 2010 at Pier 1, including a waterfront promenade, lawns, a playground, and the Granite Prospect. Later that summer nearly 12 acres of parkland opened on Pier 6 and the Pier 2 uplands, bringing diverse playgrounds, sand volleyball courts, concessionaires, and natural habitats to the park.

With Piers 1 and 6 open to the public, the not-for profit entity Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, known as Brooklyn Bridge Park, was established to continue parkland construction and plan for park maintenance and operation. The Empire Fulton Ferry section, including this historic 1920 Jane's Carousel, re-opened in September 2011.