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More park space with "phenomenal" views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River is coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park next year.
The two-acre space—directly under the tower of the Brooklyn Bridge with the East River to the north, the River Café and Pier 1 to the west, Water Street to the south and St Ann’s Warehouse to the east—will eventually become part of Brooklyn Bridge Park, with food and drink vendors, meeting space and may even serve as a spot to catch an outdoor movie or go ice skating.
Right now, the area is fenced off by the Department of Transportation, which requires access to the bridge tower, but the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation just got Landmarks Preservation Commission approval to break ground on it in the fall. Construction, which would include new shrubbery, benches and concrete pavement, would wrap up by December 2021, according to Curbed New York, which covered the LPC hearing on Tuesday.
The new plaza will mimic the length and width of the span of bridge above it.
"[We’re] giving a moment of pause so that you can understand the deck above, and really create something special while having it feel like it’s part of this industrial and historic plaza,” said Paul Sek, principal at Michael Van Valkenberg, during the hearing.
It also would connect the Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO sections of the park by acting as a "grand civic plaza, and a "release valve" for foot traffic, which right now is sidelined to a congested sidewalk, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
This $8 million plaza is the last piece of the park's 1.3-mile waterfront to be converted to public green space. After years of renovation, Squibb Bridge reopened earlier this month.
The park is also wrapping up the Pier 2 Uplands project this summer, which will add 3.4 acres of green space with water spray jets, a lawn and granite seating to the waterfront green space.
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