Williamsburg

Come see Williamsburg’s Domino Park by night

Eye on Real Estate

September 26, 2018 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Welcome to Williamsburg’s Domino Park, which is open at night. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan
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There are gantry cranes and volleyball games in the moonlight.

And fear not. There are floodlights, too.

By now, everybody’s been to visit Domino Park, the Williamsburg waterfront’s new recreation area, which opened in June.

But have you seen it at night? It’s open until 1 a.m.

Bright-white spotlights turn 80-foot-tall gantry cranes into beacons that draw visitors to the park’s Grand Street entrance.

The cranes and other historic artifacts displayed throughout the park were salvaged from the Domino Sugar Refinery that operated there until 2004.

From an aerial walkway that runs beside the cranes, visitors get a good look at lawns, benches and a promenade down below. The park extends for a quarter of a mile along the East River, so there are glittering views of the Manhattan skyline.

Domino Park’s visitors gather on a promenade with a view of the Empire State Building.

Two Trees Management demolished most of the buildings on the Domino site to make room for a mammoth, multi-building residential, office and retail development. The Walentas family’s company is in the process of turning a landmarked refinery there, whose address is 292-314 Kent Ave., into an office property.

Two Trees spent millions of dollars to construct six-acre Domino Park and is paying for its maintenance as well.

During a nighttime visit, you’ll notice spotlights on playground equipment that’s designed to look like miniature sugar-factory buildings.

Striped umbrellas and strings of fairy lights add a festive air to the seating at an outdoor restaurant called Tacocina. A fountain where kids play on warm days glows a purple hue.

Four tanks served as storage spots for syrup when the sugar refinery was functioning. Now they are objects that recall a bygone era.

Beside the park’s South 5th Street entrance, the Williamsburg Bridge wears a necklace of lights.

The restaurant’s fairy lights are the necklace’s visual echo.

 

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