Fun at Brooklyn Bridge Park

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Fun at Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Homer Fink on May 20, 2012 4:46 pm in brooklyn bridge park

It was a great weekend to visit Brooklyn Bridge Park. We’ve compiled some photos of BBP from Twitter taken over the last couple of weeks. Check them out after the jump. (Photo: Peter W. Knox via Twitter) Continue Reading →

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Temporary ‘Photoville’ Village Coming To BBP Pier 3 This Summer

By Chuck Taylor on May 16, 2012 11:38 am in brooklyn bridge park, Events, Photography, Visual Arts

Brooklyn-based art cooperative United Photo Industries is creating a temporary “photographic village” out of 30 shipping containers in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 Uplands for nine days this summer, with the promise that “central to the Village will be a communal beer & food garden serving chilled brews and artisanal snacks.”

Gothamist reports that “Photoville” will exhibit its “celebration of photography” from June 22 to July 1 (hours are here). It comprises a mix of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a mini dog run with the “Paws Wall of Fame” and beer garden provided by Brooklyn Brewery Continue Reading →

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Thursday: ‘Celebrate BK! Dance Party’

By Chuck Taylor on May 9, 2012 6:37 pm in Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Dance, Events

A reminder: On Thursday, May 10 from 7-10 p.m., Brooklyn Bridge Park will host the “Celebrate Brooklyn!” Dance Party at Pier 1. Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones will perform material from his “The Road From Memphis,” while DJ Rich Medina Rich Medina will warm up the night with a sonic journey of hip-hop, house, Afrobeat, funk & soul.. The best part: This event is free. Continue Reading →

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Are Brooklyn Heights Activists Looking $40M BBP Gift Horse In The Mouth?

By Chuck Taylor on May 3, 2012 4:09 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Government

Are Brooklyn Heights residents too haughty to share the neighborhood? That’s the tenor of a New York Post article today, which reports the melodramatic account of Tuesday night’s Brooklyn Park Planning meeting. Apparently, several civic leaders groused that the record-setting $40 million donation for a planned 115,000sf athletic facility would be “devastating” for the nabe.

The proposed year-round Fieldhouse near Pier 5 at the edge of Joralemon Street in Willowtown, received a full funding offer in April from Manhattan philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz, which would include an inclined bike track, sports playing areas, 2,500 seats and on-site parking. Rechnitz also agreed to underwrite any operating revenue shortfalls during the first decade of a 20-year city lease agreement.

But some activists Tuesday complained, saying the BBP attraction would draw crowds of unwanted pedestrians and traffic to the quiet streets of the neighborhood. Continue Reading →

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Proposed BBP Fieldhouse Hires Greg Brooks As Exec Director

By Chuck Taylor on May 1, 2012 2:05 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights

Greg J. Brooks has been appointed Executive Director of The New York City Fieldhouse, formed to oversee build-out of the new year-round indoor recreation facility near Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This follows a $40 million donation April 19 from Joshua Rechnitz, Founder & Chairman of the non-profit organization. Continue Reading →

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Summer Film Series Announced

By Chuck Taylor on April 30, 2012 10:47 pm in Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, movies

Brooklyn Bridge Park has announced its 13th-annual “Movies With A View” SyFy summer series of free films, running from the beginning of July, every Thursday through the end of August, on Pier 1.

Ditch Plains and Calexio will offer food at the series, although visitors are allowed to bring their own snacks and beverages (sneer: no open alcohol allowed), while no chairs with metal frames are permitted on the lawn. Here’s the schedule: Continue Reading →

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Squibb Park Bridge Begins Build-Out

By Chuck Taylor on April 27, 2012 1:50 pm in brooklyn bridge park

Construction has begun in earnest on the Squibb Park Bridge that will connect Brooklyn Heights from Columbia Heights across Furman Street to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier One. It was a month ago that we first noted fencing being opened up for its first stage of build-out. The Squibb bridge is slated for completion this summer. Brownstoner provides this updated photo of the progress. See rendering below. Continue Reading →

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Secures $66.5M From NYC, Plus A $40M Rec Facility Donation

By Chuck Taylor on April 20, 2012 7:55 am in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Government

At last, some positively spectacular news about the progress of Brooklyn Bridge Park. First, Park President Regina Myer announced Thursday that Joshua Rechnitz, Founder & Chairman of the non-profit New York City Fieldhouse, has offered $40 million for the design & construction of a year-round, multi-use recreation facility near Pier 5. This represents one of the largest donations ever made to a New York City park. The center will be vetted through community dialogue before being built.

Second, State Senator Daniel Squadron says the BBP Board has secured the $66.5 million commitment funding from New York City that was promised via Squadron’s and Assemblymember Millman’s agreement with the city last summer. Continue Reading →

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BBP Solicits Entries For ‘Bluebell Photo Contest’

By Chuck Taylor on April 20, 2012 12:05 am in brooklyn bridge park, Photography

Brooklyn Bridge Park is inviting all local photographers to submit images of the Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) starting to bloom by the thousands for its “Bluebell Photo Contest.”

In December 2011, BBP planted 8,000+ Spanish Bluebell bulbs in the Pier 1, Pier 6 & Main Street sections of the park. The thin leaves of the bulbs emerged early this spring as slender foot-long flower stems, each containing 12 to 15 Spanish Bluebell flowers.

Contestants are asked to upload up to three entries to the park’s SubMishMash webpage here. Continue Reading →

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WSJ: ‘A Storm Is Raging Over Plan For Brooklyn Bridge Park’

By Chuck Taylor on April 16, 2012 11:36 am in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Profiles

Is the sloooowly buregoning Brooklyn Bridge Park designed to encourage the interaction of those who visit the waterfront oasis—or is it little more than a handsome front lawn for wealthy homeowners, alienated from the surrounding community and lacking those things that make urban public spaces dynamic? That’s the question posed in a Wall Street Journal story Monday, titled “Conflict In Park Plans.”

The piece leads a more or less academic discussion over aesthetic disagreements between developers of the half-completed park’s future. Portions of Pier 1 and Pier 6 opened in 2010, with a new pier and footbridge slated for the latter part of 2012—while a majority remains on the drawing board. Continue Reading →

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Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

By Claude Scales on April 13, 2012 12:17 am in Arts and Entertainment, brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Events, Music, Nature, Weather

The forecast for this weekend is for temperatures reaching the 70s and little, if any, chance of showers, so it should be a very good time to see spring blossoms and foliage in Brooklyn Bridge Park (photo), in gardens well tended by Jonathan Landsman and crew beside the Promenade, or in window boxes and gardens along the streets of Brooklyn Heights.

On Sunday, April 15 (you get an extra ~~day~~ two days–thank you, Karl, and the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day holiday–to file tax returns this year) the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra will present a concert at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Clinton and Montague streets (enter from Clinton) starting at 3:00 p.m. The program includes Mussorgsky’s “Songs and Dances of Death”, featuring bass-baritone Mark Peters; Greenhoe’s “Sojourn”; and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony Number Two in e-minor”. Admission is free, but with a suggested donation of $15.

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Earth Day 2012: NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg Claims To Love Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Chuck Taylor on April 10, 2012 9:34 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights

With Earth Day coming up on Sunday April 22—which aims to preserve and protect the environment—grassroots environmental organization Sierra Club posted a video offering a slew of notable public figures sharing their favorite “pieces of America.” Actor Corbin Bernsen names Yosemite National Park, “That ’70s Show” regular Laura Prepon cites Big Sur and HBO’s “True Blood” actress Kristin Bauer hearts the redwood forests of Northern California. And then there’s NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who names Brooklyn Bridge Park, “because it gives you a front row seat on one of the great harbors in the world.” See the Earth Day video on YouTube here.

Bloomberg’s pronounced adoration for BBP is ironic, given his persistent distractions to develop Governor’s Island and other areas of the city, instead of focusing on sluggish progress along the Brooklyn waterfront. Continue Reading →

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 4/5: Signs Of Progress?

By Chuck Taylor on March 17, 2012 2:23 pm in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights

Since your BHB correspondent’s credentials are in crafting sentences and not engineering, I’m hard-pressed to explain exactly what’s going on in Brooklyn Bridge Park around the areas of Pier 4 and 5 (north of 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park condos, just south of Montague Street). But over the past week, trucks and crews have been pushing forward with what appears to be tangible progress, including some sort of water rampart at the shoreline (see larger image below the jump).

In any case, it’s a pleasure to see any sign of action, aside from DUMBO’s rehab at Fulton Ferry Park. According to the BBP’s website, completion of Pier 5 and a portion its “uplands”—comprising 5 acres of multi-use active recreation and a picnic peninsula with concession, barbeque and play area—is scheduled for completion in Fall 2012. See The Daily News update here. Continue Reading →

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Brooklyn Bridge Park: Spring Fling & 5K Race 3/31

By Chuck Taylor on March 15, 2012 9:19 am in Arts and Entertainment, brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Dance, Events, Fun, Kids, Music

Brooklyn Bridge Park has two events coming up on Saturday, March 31: Its family-oriented Spring Fling and the annual Eileen C. Dugan Memorial 5K race.

First up: Spring Fling takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Empire Fulton Ferry section of the park. Admission is free, and includes egg decorating, music, dancing, yoga, face painting, storytelling and an egg roll. The Wiyos will perform at 10:30 a.m., and Audrarox at noon. Continue Reading →

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Hot Damn! Pool Coming To Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 2 This Summer

By Chuck Taylor on February 29, 2012 10:24 am in brooklyn bridge park, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Fun

Dive in—or, uh, at least wade—Brooklyn Heights: Officials overseeing the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park are planning to install a temporary pool in the Pier 2 uplands section of the green space this summer. According to a story in today’s New York Post, the 30-by-50-foot pool will be above ground, 3½-feet deep across, fully decked and remain there for five glorious years. Continue Reading →

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