OPINION: Way to Brooklyn Bridge Park shouldn’t necessarily be through ‘Narrow Streets of Cobblestone’
By all accounts, Brooklyn Bridge Park is a smashing success. With its remarkable waterfront vistas, the park, which stretches from Pier 6 near Atlantic Avenue, to Jay Street in DUMBO, attracts huge numbers of people every year — both New Yorkers and tourists.
Among its features are active recreations, outdoor film showings, the historic Jane’s Carousel, a picnic area, a waterfront area, playgrounds, a walking/biking path, food vendors and more. In its northern end, the park incorporates the former Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, which was extensively redeveloped after acquisition.
The park has entrances at Atlantic Avenue (Pier 6), Joralemon Street, Squibb Bridge (temporarily closed), Fulton Ferry (Pier 1), and multiple entrances in DUMBO, where the park is closer to local streets and not separated by the BQE, as in its lower portion.
However, as Steve Rothman, a governor of the Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) and chairman of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Working Group, says, there is much more traffic leading up to the park, both pedestrian and auto, then was originally anticipated.