The Brooklyn Bridge Park has been a historical park in New York City for many years it has attracted tourists from all over the world. What used to be old Piers, sold off have now turned into a site that people from all over would love to see. The termination of Old Fulton Street was the site of the original ferry that linked Brooklyn to Manhattan. In 1900, the New York Dock Company consolidated almost all of the waterfront property between Fulton Street and Erie Basin. At its peak, the New York Dock Co. owned or managed over 40 piers and approximately 150 stores and warehouses, making it the largest private freight terminal in the world. But in the 1950’s shipping in the area began a steady decline in use because of competition. By the late 1970’s Piers1-6 were warehouses and generating revenues for the Port Authority.
In Strategies for Enhancing Marine (and Human) Habitat at Brooklyn Bridge Park Matthew Urbanski and Rachel Gleeson state that “Brooklyn Bridge Park, which opened its first completed segment to the public in June 2010, is the first major park to be built in Brooklyn, New York, USA in over a century replacing derelict pier sheds and paved upland areas with new public access amenities and natural landscape elements, the park will bring new social life and ecological vitality to a waterfront that has long been dominated by commercial and industrial uses.”(72) The article explains two studies that were conducted in the 1900’s that focused on fish population in large piers on the lower Hudson River on marine habitat they were influential in placing public policy with respect to new construction structures that were over water in the studies fish counts were conducted to determine specific species distribution throughout a number of years. With the building of the piers they also wanted to make sure that the wildlife had room to spread as well. “In evaluating the potential of the environmental impact of the proposed park, the design team recognized the Brooklyn tidal shoreline ecology was an integrated system, where ecological enhancements in one particular are could produce a net benefit on surrounding habitat systems. This idea led to a plan to permanently remove large areas of existing overwater platforms, where strategically introducing new floating walkways connecting the outboard ends of piers that were designed to avoid the negative environmental impacts that had been observed under large piers.” (72)
Since then the Park has grown immensely located at 334 Furman Street with 85 acres of land and a 1.3-mile water front there are now there are 6 separate piers in which many travel everyday as you can see right now so many people here. The Park now features things such as sand volleyball courts, bicycle and running paths, a dog run, a boat launch where they give free kayaking lessons and a pool. These activities become really popular when the summer strikes, so remember when the weather gets warmer you can come here and enjoy it to the maximum. All provided with a spectacular view of the New York City skyline. The Park also provides over 400 free activities throughout the year ranging from performance arts and fitness classes to children’s education programs to performance arts and fitness classes. The park is a getaway from all of Downtown Brooklyn’s gray buildings with beautiful scenery and green hills, colorful playgrounds and now a pool. It is the perfect place to visit on a hot summer day with a picnic basket and bathing suit or a walk through during the fall or winter. It serves as a year round attraction for its people of Brooklyn and others who wish to visit.
As we can remember that on October 29,2012 hurricane Sandy struck the Northeastern United States also hitting Brooklyn Bridge Park In Update, Brooklyn Bridge Park The author described the hurricanes attack on the park. “Winds toppled a few trees, but most survived, and the railings, benches, and posts were unscathed. But in exceeding the projected 100-year storm-water surge by nearly two feet, Sandy ruined most of the waterfront park’s electrical system.” The park did stand up to the Hurricane that caused absolute damage to neighborhoods, meaning that it was built very well. That was just one of the problems that the park had to endure, years before there was a debate on housing that was being planned by the park. In Debate Rages on Housing At Planned Brooklyn Park Sam Roberts asks the question “If 1,200 or so high-rise apartments, a hotel and other private buildings occupy about one-tenth of the land reserved for a park project, is it still a park?” His article views both sides of the argument many didn’t want housing to go up because they didn’t feel like it would be a park anymore. Others felt that it gave the park a sense of life. Many believed it was going to be viewed as an industrial site instead of a city park. With the building of housing some believed that it would be a great addition and the project is now scheduled to begin during the fall of 2015.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is a great site to see whether it is during the day or at night, summer or winter this park has been a very positive addition to Brooklyn and its urban feel to it matches perfectly with its Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. The park is filled with much history and the process of making this breath taking landmark was not easy, but as you can see it was worth it.
Works cited
Bates, Sam. “Debate Rages on Housing At Planned Brooklyn Park.” The New York Times, 23rd July. 2006: Pg 26. Print.
Padilla, Dianna K. “Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Win-Win for the People of Brooklyn and the Environment.”Ecological Restoration, 30. 1 (2012): 78–78. Print.
Unknown. “Update, Brooklyn Bridge Park..” American Scholar 00030937, Vol.82. Issue 1 (2013): Print.
Urbanski, Matthew and Rachel Gleeson. “Strategies for Enhancing Marine (and Human) Habitat at Brooklyn Bridge Park.” Ecological Restoration, 30. 1 (2012): 71–75. Print.
