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Do you like lawns? Lawns are nice. You can lie on them. You can turn yourself around and lie on them a different way. You can bring a book and read that book while you lie on the lawn, or maybe just listen to music if you're not feeling so bookish. Anyhow, if you do like lawns then this is your lucky week: There's a nice new lawn in town!
On Tuesday, Brooklyn Bridge Park officially opened five acres of new parkland at Pier 3, and the centerpiece is a grassy expanse that looks up at the sky and out on the skyline of lower Manhattan. It takes up more than an acre of space, and can accommodate as many as 2,400 lawn enthusiasts. It is surrounded by shrubbery and trees that offer protection from the wind and—especially once the trees grow a little taller—promise to provide some respite from the sun.
But what about those who do not like lawns? Who think a lawn is a bit of a yawn? Happily, Pier 3 has other assets as well, including a section with movable picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. But the central attraction is sure to be what the park bills as an "exploratory labyrinth" along the north side of the pier. That's right: We said exploratory labyrinth. Visitors wind through an area decorated with historic items from the Pier, including old bollards, cleats and railroad tracks. There are also interactive elements, several of which involve playing with sound: an echo game, parabolic reflectors, a "conference tube" and dance-chime squares that make noise when you step on them, like the floor piano in Big.
Photograph: Courtesy Julienne Schaer
If having fun with sound doesn't sound like that much fun to you, perhaps you might enjoy walking amid an arrangement of mirrors that the park describes as a "walk-in kaleidoscope."
Photograph: Courtesy Julienne Schaer
Or if you're more into sitting—and we're not gonna lie, we're pretty into sitting—you could park yourself on this curl of stone seats by German industrial designer Günter Beltzig, which might also be a good place for, say, a council meeting of intergalactic wizards.
Photograph: Courtesy Nicholas Sella
The Pier 3 section of Brooklyn Bridge Park is open from 6am to 1am daily, and is just a few blocks from the Clark Street stop on the 2 and 3 subway lines. Go on, take a walk.
Photograph: Courtesy Nicholas Sella
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