Brooklyn Heights Blog

Photo by Marc Hermann/BHB

It made a sound, and there were plenty of people around to hear it.  Read more »

((The Poplar Street garden, looking toward the BQE from the koi pond; photo courtesy Bill Spier))

In a formerly-empty lot on Poplar Street sits one of the borough’s richest and lushest private gardens. It’s almost like the Heights’ own Gramercy Park, but here passersby can look in and see flowers from the sidewalk and still get that pleasant satisfaction of nature all around us. This week, BHB got a tour of the garden, and will post a video tour for you soon. A photography slideshow is below.

The 1-acre Bridge Harbor Heights Garden is home to more than 300 different plants; at least six species of birds (including migratory ones, season permitting); a koi from Fortune House (until recently, there were two); and a hive of bumblebees. The garden wraps around residential buildings on Poplar Street, between Hicks and Henry streets, and rests along Old Fulton Street (and the residents’ parking lot) to the north.

(Slideshow after the jump)

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There was some chatter on Wednesday’s Open Thread about soccer players who take up the entire turf field at Cadman Plaza Park and don’t leave much room for kids, sunbathers, and others. We talked with Parks Department spokesman Phil Abramson about the matter, who said:

This field is an open lawn area that is open to the entire public. We do not and will not issue athletic permits for leagues to have games here. [It's] not that people can’t kick a soccer ball around, but it should not occupy the entire area because we want people to be able to lay on blankets, have picnics, etc. as well. If they are indeed taking up the whole area, then our Parks Enforcement Officers can tell them not to do so. I will advise them to keep an eye on this over here.

These yellow blossoms have, for me, come to be the herald of spring in the Heights. Now, if the weather would only co-operate.

Flickr photo by photodude8

Will this victim of the War on Trees bloom anew this spring?

Resting after a journey from points south, this mockingbird roosts on the fence next to the Promenade, behind Two Montague Terrace, at 9:30 this morning.