http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/1...ridge_park.php
Exploring the Still-Developing 85-Acre Brooklyn Bridge Park
December 20, 2012
by Curbed Staff
Quote:
Over the past 12 years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has directed enormous amounts of energy and resources towards building a series of new waterfront parks in New York City. Brooklyn Bridge Park, the 85-acre super-park currently being assembled along 1.3 miles of East River waterfront, is the best known of these new parks, and is considered by many to be one of the crowning achievements of his waterfront agenda. The park is so large that it has swallowed up several pre-existing parks nearby, and includes landscapes ranging from elaborate wooded playgrounds to hilly hiking trails. The newest section of the park, Pier 5, opened to the public on December 13th and contains an immense soccer field, a picnic area, a fishing station, and a tether ball court. However, like all of the recently opened sections of Brooklyn Bridge Park, it lacks any truly significant means of engaging the water.
Situated south of the Brooklyn Bridge, the newer sections of Brooklyn Bridge Park were designed by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh in 2005, and began opening to the public in 2010. They include many areas to walk or run above the water on concrete promenades, and countless places to sit on benches or fields while passively enjoying a cordoned-off view of passing boats. There are even a few areas to fish. In the entire 14 block park, though, there is currently only one access point to the East River - a cinderblock boat ramp that is crumbling into a cove of old pilings. Closed for the season, the ramp ends at a guard rail covered in caution tape. While the park is eventually scheduled to include a marina, a beach, and a second boat ramp, these additions will only focus a small percentage of the park's 85 acres onto water-based activities.
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Another of Tuazon's dead-tree sculptures provides a commentary on the arbitrary recreation possibilities included in the park.
On the recently opened Pier 5, a soccer field has replaced a shipping warehouse.
Children play on its synthetic surface, far from the water's edge.
Pier 5 is ringed by more promenades and benches, offering passive views out onto the water.
A new picnic area with built in grills and plastic umbrellas was opened on December 13th.
The picnic area includes a randomly placed tether ball court near the water's edge.
A pedestrian bridge from Brooklyn Heights will soon make accessing this southern section of the park easier.
In Empire Fulton Ferry Park, visitors walk near a cove where waves splash onto the paths.
—Nathan Kensinger
In these sections of the park, children play at the water's edge and interact with nature.