Eighty-five acres of derelict shipping piers turned into the best skyline view in New York, with a restored 1922 carousel in a glass box.
What it replaced
These were working piers into the 1980s — container terminals and warehouses on the East River, cut off from Brooklyn Heights above by the expressway. When the Port Authority wound the operation down, the default plan was luxury housing along the whole waterfront. The park that exists instead came out of two decades of local campaigning, and the housing that did get built pays for the park’s maintenance, which is an unusual arrangement and a contentious one.
It opened in stages from 2010 and is still adding pieces.
Pier by pier
Pier 1 has the Granite Prospect, a set of wide stone steps facing Manhattan, and the lawn above it. This is where the skyline view is, and it is the best free one in the city: the Brooklyn Bridge on your right, the Financial District straight ahead, the Statue of Liberty in the distance to the left. Sunset here is a genuine event and the steps fill up.
Pier 2 is sport — basketball, handball, shuffleboard, a roller rink — under a covered shed.
Pier 3 has a lawn and a labyrinth of hedges.
Pier 4 is a small beach, and it is a real beach with sand you can stand on, though swimming is not permitted.
Pier 5 is playing fields and a picnic peninsula with grills.
Pier 6 at the Atlantic Avenue end has the largest playground in the park, with a sandpit, water play and slides built into a hill, plus the seasonal ferry to Governors Island.
Jane’s Carousel
A 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel, restored over twenty-odd years by Jane Walentas, housed in a glass pavilion by Jean Nouvel at the DUMBO end. It costs a few dollars a ride, it runs year-round, and the glass box means it looks extraordinary at night with the Manhattan Bridge behind it.
It flooded during Hurricane Sandy — the pavilion was sealed and the carousel floated but survived.
Getting there and around
The park runs 1.3 miles along the water, so distances are longer than they look. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Greenway runs the full length for walking and cycling.
From Manhattan: walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and descend into DUMBO, or take the NYC Ferry, which is much the nicer approach.
Brooklyn Heights Promenade, above the park on the bluff, is a separate and older viewpoint cantilevered over the expressway. It is a five-minute detour and worth it.
Food is at Time Out Market in the Empire Stores building at the DUMBO end, and there are seasonal kiosks along the piers.
More Parks & Green Space
Central Park
Not a surviving piece of wilderness but a landscape built from nothing over sixteen years, including the streams, the hills and the woods. Free, and larger than you think.
The High Line
A freight viaduct that was going to be demolished, replanted as a mile-and-a-half elevated park thirty feet above the West Side. Free, and busier than you expect.
Bryant Park
Nine acres of lawn behind the Public Library that were a no-go area in the 1980s and are now the most heavily used park per square foot in the city. Free chairs, free events, free wifi.