Dumbo NYC

From Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy:

Brooklyn Brewery will hold the eighth annual Brooklyn Pigfest in the Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park section of Brooklyn Bridge Park to benefit the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy on Saturday, May 31, 2008.

The 1-6pm festival of cold beer, live music and slow-cooked barbecue at the park’s Tobacco Warehouse will feature Jeff Riley of The Smokin’ Grill and Bon Soir Catering and Sam Barbieri of the Waterfront Ale House in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

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From the inbox…More car break-ins on Front Street, Brooklyn Bridge Park meeting notes, and questions for Vinegar Hill residents after the jump. Thanks for your emails. Apologies if I haven’t been able to get to all of them.

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(Photo courtesy of epc)

The controversial Brooklyn Bridge Park is entering the first phase of development. According to an article in today’s NY Times, the “85-acre stretch of waterfront will be converted into Brooklyn Bridge Park, with meadows, playing fields, marinas and basketball courts. On one side of the park will be magnificent views of skyscrapers. On the other side will be apartment buildings and a hotel whose residents and guests will pay taxes for the maintenance of the park.”

While creating a park is a great idea, there are various opposition groups on the design of the park as well as how the maintenance will be paid for. An urban planner quoted in the article thinks the park designs are a missed opportunity for the waterfront to be a backdrop to markets, museums, and a range of commerce and culture. “If Brooklyn wanted to distinguish itself as a great city, apart from Manhattan, it is the waterfront that could do it…Judi Francis, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, who filed the lawsuit, said the plans to build housing at either end of the park sent a not so subtle message about who is expected to enjoy those lawns and water views.” To be fair, park planners have tried to juggle various obligations to find a balance between neighborhood associations, politics, commercial and residential space, and park activities. It will be nice to see parts of the park complete in the next few years, but how will this park ever be enjoyed by the public without its controversies?

Meanwhile, the Sierra Club is preparing to sue the state to stop development that will hurt marine life along the waterfront project.

{New Brooklyn Vistas, and a Fight Over Plans for Them, 24Mar2008, NY Times}
{Sierra Club Makes Waves, 24Mar2008, NY Post}
{Phase I of Brooklyn Bridge Park Demolition Starts, 13Mar2008, DumboNYC}

What: 4TH Annual Spring Fling Egg Hunt at Brooklyn Bridge Park
When: Saturday, March 22, 2008 (rain or shine), 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Where: Main Street entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park and Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park

Schedule of Events

• 11:00am Egg Hunt begins.
• 11:15am Music: AudraRox.
• 11:15am Face Painting: Half Pint Citizens tent opens. Puppetry by Hijinx.
• 12:00pm Storytelling at the haystacks.
• 12:30pm Theatre: The Heights Players.
• 1:00pm Music: AudraRox.v
• Ongoing: Activities by Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the New York Transit Museum, and the Brooklyn Public Library.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation invite kids of all ages to the 4th Annual Spring Fling Egg Hunt in Brooklyn Bridge Park (Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and Main Street Park sections) on Saturday, March 22, from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

See www.brooklynbridgepark.org for details and directions.

Previously:
{3rd Annual Spring Fling Egg Hunt}
{Photos from Last Year’s Event}

(Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy)

After several starts and stops, the first phase of the Brooklyn Bridge Park has finally started, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. Crews have begun tearing down the shed on Pier One today. According to the BBP website, “The first phase of construction will last up to nine months and includes demolition of the pier sheds, adjacent buildings on the site not included in the park plan, and the Purchase Building.”

{Media Advisory Release (pdf), Empire State Development News}
{Brooklyn Bridge Park Plans Doomed?, 10Mar2008, Brownstoner}
{Brooklyn Bridge Park: It’s a Go!, 30Jan2008, Brownstoner}

Between mid-July and mid-October, four waterfalls will be erected in the East River in a public art project by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson that will reportedly create $55 million in extra tourism revenue for the city. One of the waterfalls will be under the Brooklyn Bridge. We should have a good view from the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park from Dumbo.

[+larger] (Artist rendering: Olafur Eliasson- Courtesy Public Art Fund/Handout/Reuters)

{ Artist to build four giant waterfalls in New York, Reuters}

As reported in December, the Empire Stores buildings in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park have structural issues with deteriorating brick window frames. The NY State Office of State Parks have started to install sidewalk bridging to protect pedestrians from possible falling brick. Other identified structural weaknesses at the building include a large crack that has developed in the northwest corner of the building and the deteriorating brick window arches.

(Photos courtesy of epc)

Previously: {Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park Temporarily Closed, 21Dec2007}
{Treatment Arrives for Dumbo Crack Problem, Curbed, 07Jan2008}

As reported yesterday in the Newswire and Curbed, the Empire Stores buildings in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park have structural issues with deteriorating brick window frames. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation today announced the temporary closure of Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and will install sidewalk bridging to protect pedestrians from “possible falling brick.”

Also, according to a Brownstoner post from yesterday, construction on the Brooklyn Bridge Park is likely to begin next month, which involves the demolition of the Department of Purchase building, which is nearby the Empire Stores. Both the Empire Stores and the Purchase Building are part of the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park.

{NY State Park: Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park}
{Temporary Closure of Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park}
{Dumbo’s Empire Stores Fighting Gravity, Park Closed, Curbed}

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy is holding a public meeting Monday, between 6:30 and 9 p.m., at the Congregation Mt. Sinai, at 250 Cadman Plaza West, to gather public input as part of a year-long effort to develop a strategic plan for programming in the planned Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Questions to be addressed in the plan include what types of cultural, recreation, and educational activities does a diverse community want in Brooklyn Bridge Park, what type of infrastructure is needed for these activities, should public programming be free or fee-based, how will the park be activated through the winter months, and how will the cultural, educational and recreational programming be funded.

“Brooklyn Bridge Park will be a regional park,” said Koval, “not simply a spectacular front yard to the adjoining neighborhoods. How do we learn lessons from other urban parks and create a welcoming, active space with broad appeal, but also allow for passive enjoyment? It will no doubt be about balance.”

The future 85-acre park will stretch 1.3 miles along the East River from north of the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. The Park includes Piers 1 - 6, each approximately the size of Bryant Park, and their uplands. My hope is that the park is a public park easily accessible for everyone and not only for the adjoining neighborhoods. From what has been published in the master plan, that seems to be the idea. Any comments for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy President Marianna Koval?

{brooklynbridgepark.org}

Hoedown Under the Bridge
Sunday, Oct 28, 2007
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Join the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and Big Apple Ranch for an afternoon of country-western dancing in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Grab your cowboy boots and head over to the cove for an overview of basic line-dancing and two-step moves followed by an hour-long social dance.

Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Main Street section

{brooklynbridgepark.org info}