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NYguy
Mar 12, 2010, 11:17 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/realestate/14posting.html

Brooklyn Bridge Park as Lure for a New Condo

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/03/14/realestate/14posting_span-CA0/14posting_CA0-articleLarge.jpg
The Brooklyn Bridge Park, now under construction with a planned playground, is fueling interest in the nearby One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/03/14/realestate/14posting2/14posting2-popup.jpg
One Brooklyn Bridge Park


By ALEC APPELBAUM
March 10, 2010

ARE the outlines of an ambitious swing-set-and-slide area lifting sales at One Brooklyn Bridge Park?

One Brooklyn Bridge, a 449-unit condominium tower at 360 Furman Street, drew brickbats in 2006 when its developer struck a deal to build on public land in exchange for helping subsidize the construction of a park on the Brooklyn waterfront. Last year, anemic sales led the developer, the RAL Companies, to lower prices by 3 percent to 35 percent and to start renting some units.

Now the park may be helping the condo, just as other parks are stimulating interest in neighborhoods elsewhere. While the recession froze the property market last year, the park’s development corporation continued with site work. So the conical hill near the northern end of the parcel and the extensive playground near the southern end, below One Brooklyn Bridge Park, are now almost ready. Designed like the rest of the park by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the playground evokes the blockbuster aura that condo projects sought in recent years. Its attractions, said Matthew Urbanski, a principal in the design firm, include a trio of ramps called Slide Mountain, a water play area, a bucket-and-shovel-ready feature called Sand Village, and a suite of swings.

Elizabeth Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the Empire State Development Corporation, a state agency overseeing the park project, said the Sand Village would almost certainly be the largest sandbox in New York City — not counting, of course, the public beaches.

And the condo — after RAL hired Developers Group/Tregny to market it last fall — is suddenly looking more popular.

“You can see the park near completion from there, and that has increased the number of people coming to see it,” said Highlyann Krasnow, the Developers Group executive who took over marketing the property on Oct. 1.

Ms. Krasnow estimated that the building was drawing some 30 visitors a week in early October and had now closed on nearly 40 percent of the units. She has sold 68 units since then — albeit after lowering asking prices. She says most units under contract offer two, three or four bedrooms.

And she credits much of the recent interest to the park emerging below. “We had people who knew about the park first come and check out the building,” she said.

Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel and a partner in Condominium Recovery, which invests in real estate, said there was no way to measure what a playground brought to the table.

“I view a playground amenity as part of a package rather than à la carte,” Mr. Miller said. “There isn’t this sort of precision to prove that, say, an apartment on Central Park is worth more because a playground is across the street than an apartment on Central Park that is not across the street from a playground.”

Of course, no playground in New York has ever had a Sand Village.

Katie Buckels, a writer and the mother of 7-month-old Maisie, said she had been unable to persuade her fiancé even to consider living in One Brooklyn Bridge until they looked down from a model unit at the emerging park. “It sold him,” Ms. Buckels said. “We are overjoyed that it’ll be a children’s park, and by next year we’ll be able to bring her there.” Her fiancé, she added, has even attended a park planning meeting.

Ms. Buckels said the couple were about to close on a 2,040-square-foot apartment near the $1.57 million asking price, reduced 25 percent from an earlier listing.

rich_200
Mar 16, 2010, 12:56 AM
Thanks for the update, this park is going to be a really cool one.

NYguy
Mar 16, 2010, 2:42 PM
I just wish they would open the completed sections already.


http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/12/33_12_ac_bbp_booze.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+articles%29

Sunset sippin’ looks like a go at Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Andy Campbell
March 16, 2010

Public boozehounds rejoice — Brooklyn Bridge Park will have an outdoor wine bar and plaza if everything goes according to plan, development officials revealed on Monday night.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, which will oversee the “park” until the new agreement for the city’s takeover of the waterfront development is completely hashed out, has already sought proposals for Pier 1’s concessions, and plans to do the same for Pier 6 in the coming weeks.

City and park officials told Community Board 2’s Parks and Recreation Committee that they’ll seek two stands and a restaurant at Pier 6 at the end of Atlantic Avenue, and four concessions at Pier 1 at the foot of Old Fulton Street — including an elevated wine bar for skyline-side sippin’.

“We’re looking for concessions that cater to everyone — and one of the biggest questions we got during the design phase was, ‘Where can I drink publicly in your park?’” said David Lowin, a vice president with the corporation. “Of course, it would be cordoned off so that drinking only takes place in one spot.”

That spot is a plaza is an area at the foot of Old Fulton Street that is bordered by trees, the waterfront and Brooklyn Bridge. If the proposals go through as expected, the plaza will have two basic concession stands — possibly offering hot dogs and snacks — and a space at the gatehouse for more food.

Pier 6 — which, like Pier 1, is scheduled to open this spring — would sport two more cart-like concession stands and a restaurant that holds about 60 diners in a building with rooftop access, officials said.

"But it’s not going to be another River Café,” Lowin said. “That’s not the price range we’re looking for.”

The concessions would open by July, and the responses are due April 1. That’s assuming that all goes well with the city’s takeover of the $350-million venture, a long-delayed 1.7-mile strip of green from John Street in DUMBO to Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill.

NYguy
Mar 19, 2010, 12:48 PM
http://brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/13/32_13_ac_bbp_opens.html

Brooklyn Bridge Park to open on Monday!

http://brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/10/33_10_bbpaerial_z.jpg


By Andy Campbell
March 19, 2010

On Monday, Brooklyn finally gets a chance to park it on the stoop.

The city announced on Thursday that the first phase of Brooklyn Bridge Park — featuring a vast green lawn and a granite front-stoop sitting area located on Pier 1 — will open to the public.

The public and a handful of elected officials — including Mayor Bloomberg, who allocated $55-million in city funds as part of a takeover agreement with the state earlier this month — will enjoy a “Great Lawn” with sweeping views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, while children will take advantage of a small playground.

The newly opened area will be most-easily accessible from Old Fulton Street in DUMBO.

The opening of Pier 1 — first promised in late 2009, then in January — was delayed in a squabble over which agency, the state’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation or the new city agency would be in charge of finishing the full, $350-million waterfront development project, which had stalled because of incomplete financing.

That confusion was cleared up when the city and state reached its deal last month, giving the city control over the remainder of the construction and operation of the development’s open space, which will eventually cut a 1.7-mile ribbon of green from DUMBO to Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill.

Though supporters of the park crowed about the opening announcement, it’ll still be a year before the city determines how it will fund the entirety of the park and raise the $16-million annual maintenance costs.

Bloomberg told The Brooklyn Paper earlier this month that a “money-making venture” — housing or otherwise — would be built in the park to keep the self-sustaining mandate in place, but housing has been a point of controversy and a committee to find alternatives to that funding route is in the works.

A second recreation area, on Pier 6 at Atlantic Avenue, is expected to open later this spring.

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 opening will begin at 9:30 am on Monday, March 22, at Old Fulton Street and Furman Street in DUMBO.

NYguy
Mar 22, 2010, 6:30 PM
Couldn't make it out to the Pier 1 opening myself, but luckily curbed.com has details...

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/03/22/brooklyn_bridge_park_opens_inside_pier_1.php
Brooklyn Bridge Park Opens; Inside Pier 1!

http://cdn0.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4056/4454032579_af3f096287_o.jpg

Monday, March 22, 2010, by Joey

Given all the delays and drama regarding the construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park, maybe it's appropriate that opening day for the first section of the park is so damp and dreary. But the mood is not! Arriving a little bit later to the party than expected is Pier 1, a 9.5-acre chunk of the planned 85-acre park running up the Kings County coast south of the Brooklyn Bridge that includes fields of green, waterfront promenades, a playground and the very cool "Granite Prospect" stairway to nowhere that will soon become one big pileup of lovey-dovey couples queuing up to take wedding photos. Be patient, Bridezillas, and watch your step! Mayor Bloomberg (the park's new boss), Governor Paterson and a host of local luminaries cut the ribbon this morning. Pier 6 is up next, but this is Pier 1's day, gloomy as it may be.

More photos from Will Femia (http://testofwill.blogspot.com/)

http://cdn0.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4017/4454060777_07b9567050_o.jpg


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http://cdn0.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4059/4454053407_c483c268ca_o.jpg

Other sections soon to be opening
http://cdn0.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/2689/4454850852_f0ef6aa649_o.jpg


http://cdn0.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4014/4454028375_6bc6504453_o.jpg

NYguy
Mar 22, 2010, 8:19 PM
From groundbreakings, to grand openings, Brooklyn is seeings its share of local politicians...but at least things are moving and getting done.

nycmayorsoffice (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycmayorsoffice/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4454769716_3f0b0d012e_b.jpg

The excitement may be too much for Bloomberg and Patterson...

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NYguy
Mar 22, 2010, 10:32 PM
YWuEJfrQ2C0

FerrariEnzo
Mar 22, 2010, 11:01 PM
Did Governor Paterson get high before the opening? He is squinting like a chinamen in all his photos.

Krases
Mar 22, 2010, 11:11 PM
Did Governor Paterson get high before the opening? He is squinting like a chinamen in all his photos.

...I thought he was legally blind?

FerrariEnzo
Mar 23, 2010, 3:37 AM
...I thought he was legally blind?

Excuses, excuses.

NYguy
Mar 23, 2010, 1:18 PM
...I thought he was legally blind?

He is, which is why he always has that look. Or maybe he was just trying to see how much was getting done over at the WTC site. :)

NYguy
Mar 26, 2010, 5:02 AM
David Wong6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/746/4461718150/sizes/l/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4461718150_3f657dda95_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4461716768_97c59336ff_b.jpg

Aleks
Mar 26, 2010, 7:26 AM
those are great shots! i hope that park (and i think it will) is as successful as the Olympic Sculpture Park here in Seattle and the Highline in NY.

I wish more cities turned old waterfronts into amazing green edens.

NYguy
Mar 26, 2010, 11:22 AM
those are great shots! i hope that park (and i think it will) is as successful as the Olympic Sculpture Park here in Seattle and the Highline in NY.

I wish more cities turned old waterfronts into amazing green edens.

I think it will be amazing. Most of the park isn't even funded yet (though they are working on it), but Pier 6 down at the other end of the park is scheduled to open later this spring, and another section of the park will open this summer. This is one of those projects that a lot of people thought would never happen.

NYguy
Mar 27, 2010, 2:29 PM
MARCH 26, 2010

It was a nice day, at least in appearance. But it was also very cold and very windy. Still, since I was Downtown
I couldn't resist a look at the early stages of what will be a great park, and another vantage point to view the skyline.

1. Governors Island, another future great, to the left...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065749/original.jpg

2. Next winter, they'll be sledding down these hills...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065762/large.jpg

3.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065770/large.jpg

4.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065778/large.jpg

5.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065787/large.jpg

6.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065803/large.jpg

7.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065848/large.jpg

8.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065848/original.jpg

9.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065879/large.jpg

10.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065905/large.jpg

11. Future athletic pier...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123065914/large.jpg

12.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066092/original.jpg

13.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066250/large.jpg

14.
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15.
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16.
http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066416/large.jpg

17. Most of the park still remains to be built, although another pier opens this spring...

http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066565/large.jpg

18. Demolition continues to make way for the residential development that will help pay for the park...

http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066570/large.jpg

19.
http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066601/large.jpg

20.
http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066642/large.jpg

21. And finally, you can't visit the park without enjoying some views of the Bridge itself. Some passing shots...

http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066651/large.jpg

22.
http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066661/large.jpg

23.
http://upload.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123066662/large.jpg

ItsConanOBrien
Mar 27, 2010, 3:38 PM
Looks great! Thanks for all the updates with this and everything else happening in NY.

NYguy
Mar 27, 2010, 4:37 PM
Welcome. :tup:

Here's a clip from the pier to go with the photos...

1rOTaIo5pI0

pattali
Mar 28, 2010, 8:31 AM
For NyGuy , Thanks so much for this lovely tour, great photos.

This park will be for NYC the spot of 21 th Century

NYguy
Mar 28, 2010, 2:30 PM
For NyGuy , Thanks so much for this lovely tour, great photos.

This park will be for NYC the spot of 21 th Century

Yeah, now I'm ready for Pier 6 at the other end of the park to open.

djvandrake
Mar 29, 2010, 12:13 AM
What a beautiful new park. And OMG the views! The views! ;)

NYguy
Mar 29, 2010, 2:50 PM
A few more people in the park than the cold, windy day I took photos...

Benjamin Rosamond (http://www.flickr.com/photos/9451351@N03/4467194865/sizes/l/in/pool-18964236@N00/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2479/4467194865_cf162882b0_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/4467966966_17fcb63090_b.jpg

hammersklavier
Mar 30, 2010, 2:59 AM
Man I totally want to go to New York now to check out the High Line and this new park!

NYguy
Mar 30, 2010, 1:26 PM
Man I totally want to go to New York now to check out the High Line and this new park!

That's the spirit...:tup:

NYguy
Mar 30, 2010, 2:08 PM
aberjona (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aberjona/4463952779/in/set-72057594120371491/)

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xbettyx (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettytsang/4462355089/sizes/l/)

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topota
Mar 31, 2010, 12:18 PM
NYguy please take a picture to this site to see how it has been? thank you very much; your photos are spectacular!!!
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9756/buildingm.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/buildingm.jpg/)

NYguy
Mar 31, 2010, 1:38 PM
NYguy please take a picture to this site to see how it has been? thank you very much; your photos are spectacular!!!


That's the section of the park that's always been a park - Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. It was "absorbed" a few months ago by the greater Brooklyn Bridge Park,
and is now closed while they do work there. Here are a couple of pics from last week...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123188245/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/123188262/original.jpg


I'm sure the movies there will continue...

l c m tt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcometto/2826477861/sizes/l/)

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Jared Klett (http://www.flickr.com/photos/geek-boy/3840557595/sizes/l/)

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NYguy
Mar 31, 2010, 2:19 PM
Future sections of the park, including the recreational piers 2 and 3...

magama.krakow (http://www.flickr.com/photos/magama/4479019970/sizes/l/)

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http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107985/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111108074/original.jpg



The section due to open later this spring (Pier 6)...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107950/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107951/original.jpg



Another athletic pier (Pier 5), a few years off...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107955/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107729/original.jpg

topota
Apr 1, 2010, 1:30 PM
Thank you very much NYguy for that information and pictures, that live there lucky friend!

Wheelingman04
Apr 2, 2010, 12:07 AM
Look at American International standing proud.;)

sbarn
Apr 2, 2010, 2:41 AM
I love this park... New York is doing amazing things with expanding its park system. Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Highline... :cheers:

NYguy
Apr 2, 2010, 5:03 AM
With so many phases left to open, it's like the park that keeps on giving...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/arts/design/02bridge.html?ref=nyregion

The Greening of the Waterfront

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/04/02/arts/02bridgespan-1/02bridgespan-1-articleLarge.jpg
Brooklyn Bridge Park, with its first phase on Pier 1 in Brooklyn. When completed the park will stretch from just north of the Brooklyn Bridge south to Atlantic Avenue.

The mayor’s office was in such a rush to showcase the completion of the first phase of its new Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn that it opened it too soon. Construction crews are still installing handrails. Walkways remain unpaved. Only a few early buds are showing on the freshly planted trees.

It takes a serious imaginative effort to picture what the park will look like when its entire 65 acres, stretching from just north of the Brooklyn Bridge south to Atlantic Avenue, are complete — a process that will take years.

But the effect it will have on New York is immeasurable.

...To appreciate the scope of the planned Brooklyn park, start at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Only a few years ago this stretch of pavement looked down over huge dilapidated warehouses that covered several waterfront piers extending to the north and south. Today most of the warehouses have been demolished to make room for new lawns and playgrounds; much of the park will be on the piers. The bare steel frame of one warehouse can be seen just to the north; it will eventually be converted to indoor basketball and handball courts. Just past it is the newly opened first phase of the park, on Pier 1: a trapezoidal patch of green near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Mr. Van Valkenburgh conceived each pier as a distinct experience. Pier 6, the furthest to the left, will be covered by patches of wetlands and lawn and volleyball courts. Pier 5 will offer outdoor “active recreation areas,” with soccer and softball fields. Others will be blanketed with grass, a pebble beach, an outdoor event space. The piers will be linked by an informal landscape of rolling lawns and pathways that will eventually stretch 1.2 miles along the waterfront and will link up with the existing Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park on the other side of the bridge, in Dumbo.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/04/02/arts/design/20100402-brooklynsub-slideshow_index.html

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NYguy
Apr 4, 2010, 2:43 PM
Didn't take long for the crowds (and cameras) to come. Everyone loves a park, especially a new one...

ianqui (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianqui/4488355990/sizes/l/)

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aklipinski (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aklipinski/4486109236/sizes/l/)

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nightcrawler1961 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/37467700@N08/4485716526/sizes/l/)

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philvia
Apr 4, 2010, 3:33 PM
i went here on opening day, and i was really disappointed. i felt a lot like i was in some high end barn yard. the fence is just wire tacked onto a heavy timber post... at first i was afraid to touch it because it looked like any electrical fence used to keep animals inside. the walkways alternate between granite steps and asphalt flat areas. the heavy timber poles with very industrial lights on them just add to the overall barnyard feeling.
for the most part it seemed very unpolished... NOTHING like the highline.

NYguy
Apr 6, 2010, 2:37 PM
i went here on opening day, and i was really disappointed. i felt a lot like i was in some high end barn yard. the fence is just wire tacked onto a heavy timber post... at first i was afraid to touch it because it looked like any electrical fence used to keep animals inside. the walkways alternate between granite steps and asphalt flat areas. the heavy timber poles with very industrial lights on them just add to the overall barnyard feeling.
for the most part it seemed very unpolished... NOTHING like the highline.

It's not intended to be the High Line, but even though it's open, even Pier 1 isn't completed (as you noted from some of the walkways). As it is now is not how it will be once it begins to mature into an actual park. But even as it is now, I think the photos speak for themselves. The people love it.

NYguy
Apr 8, 2010, 4:09 PM
Sometimes you learn the hard way...

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/04/08/2010-04-08_girl_hurt_on_domes_parents_remove_bklyn_park_orbs.html?r=ny_local&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fny_local+%28NY+Local%29
Parents urge officials to remove 'dangerous' metal climbing domes in new Brooklyn Bridge Park

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/08/alg_park_domes.jpg
With temps soaring, Melanie Simon, 64, reacts after touching metal dome at Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/08/amd_domes_foley.jpg
Kira Foley, 5, broke her nose and lost a tooth while playing on metal domes at Brooklyn Bridge Park

BY Jeff Wilkins and Elizabeth Hays
Thursday, April 8th 2010

The sleek play equipment in a gleaming new Brooklyn waterfront park doesn't just get scorching hot, it's also treacherous.

Five-year-old Kira Foley broke her nose and knocked out a tooth on the controversial metal climbing domes in the new Brooklyn Bridge Park, just hours after it opened late last month.

"[The domes are] not safe," said Kira's dad, Robert Foley, 39, of Brooklyn, who fired off a letter March 23 demanding testing data showing the equipment is safe for kids. "They look innocuous, but they're really dangerous."

Foley said he is still awaiting a response from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp., which is building the swanky park at the foot of Old Fulton St. in DUMBO.

Instead, all he's gotten is a call from the park's insurance company telling him how to put in a claim.

"It's not a money issue," said Foley, whose family is covered by insurance. "I just want them removed."

The Daily News reported yesterday that parents are fuming over the new playground - designed by landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates - because the metal domes get so hot on sunny days that kids cry when they touch them.

"Within five minutes of being here, [my daughter] burned her leg," said Jennifer Bollard, 37, a mom from New Jersey who traveled to check out the much-hyped park with her kids, Julie, 3, and Jonathan, 7.

After The News revealed the problem, officials erected temporary tents over the structures. But within hours, the sun had shifted so that the domes were once again hot.

"They should take them out and put in something like a jungle gym. Remember those?" said baby-sitter Kaitlyn Hammond, 25, who refused to let her 2-year-old charge, Amanda, near the orbs.

"It seems like they built this to fit in with the aesthetics of the neighborhood, not for the benefit of the kids," she said.

Van Valkenburgh designers declined to discuss the matter.

Park officials insisted that along with the tents, they had posted warning signs and said that young trees nearby would soon provide shade.

Critics said it's not enough.

"They should never have been installed in the first place," said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates.

Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan), who wants all play equipment heat-tested, agreed: "It's better to rip out the equipment than have a child who is horribly scarred or injured."


________________________________________________


http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/04/07/2010-04-07_parents_fuming_over_playgrounds_hot_steel_attraction.html
Parents fuming over Brooklyn's playground's 'hot' steel attraction

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/07/alg_brooklyn_bridge_park.jpg

Domes of Brooklyn Bridge Park and letter (below) warning about them.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/07/amd_park_sign.jpg

BY Elizabeth Hays
Wednesday, April 7th 2010

Welcome to Brooklyn's hottest new playground.

Parents are fuming about the new playground in Brooklyn Bridge Park, which features metal climbing domes for kids that critics charge get scorching hot on sunny days.

"It's outrageous," said James Wagman, whose son, Matthew, 6, gasped the other day when he put his hands on one of the shiny structures placed in full sunlight. "My first reaction was, 'That's nutty. Why did they put that in a playground?'"

Julie Lundberg said her 20-month-old son Bode Bulhak burst into tears after he touched one.

"It was a pain cry," said Lundberg. "He was saying, 'Ouch, Ouch,' and his hands were all red," she added. "They need to fix it."

The steel domes are the main play equipment inside Brooklyn Bridge Park, which opened at the base of Old Fulton St. last month.

Park officials said they have hung signs warning parents to "exercise caution" on sunny days and insisted that several young trees planted near the domes "will supply shade in the coming weeks and alleviate this heat."

But critics said it was unlikely the small trees would provide enough shade any time soon - and worried the problem will get worse this summer.

"It's only April. Imagine what it's going to be like on a 90-degree day," said activist Geoffrey Croft from New York City Park Advocates, which has battled the city over too-hot black safety mats in playgrounds. "This equipment should be tested before it gets installed."

A joint Daily News and New York City Park Advocates investigation in 2008 found that black playground mats can top 165 degrees on hot days and cause scores of burns to kids each year.

Dr. Roger Yurt, director of New York-Presbyterian Hospital's burn center, said the park's metal play equipment could get even hotter.

"We know that the rubber mats are a problem. I would expect that steel in direct sunlight is even worse than what we've seen," said Yurt.

Parents wondered why the metal structures were installed in the first place.

"It's a pretty gross oversight," said Paul Catlett, 42, a tourist from Kentucky who visited with his son, Henry, 11. "Anybody who knows anything about steel knows it gets extremely hot with any kind of sustained exposure to sunlight."


S2hBtzt61aM

NYC4Life
Apr 8, 2010, 5:45 PM
Sure makes it New York's hottest new park, literally.

ardecila
Apr 8, 2010, 9:15 PM
I don't understand how something so reflective can be absorbing so much energy. Any physicists among us?

Also, how did that girl break her nose on a 2-foot-high dome? What a retard. Hopefully she's learned from her experience... She could have sustained the same injury on any one of thousands of playgrounds across America The other kids' 1st-degree burns are understandable, of course.

I suppose the problem could be solved with trees on the south, or by circulating water through the interior of the domes (the trees being the preferred solution).

NYguy
Apr 9, 2010, 5:16 AM
I don't understand how something so reflective can be absorbing so much energy. Any physicists among us?

Also, how did that girl break her nose on a 2-foot-high dome? What a retard. Hopefully she's learned from her experience... She could have sustained the same injury on any one of thousands of playgrounds across America The other kids' 1st-degree burns are understandable, of course.

I suppose the problem could be solved with trees on the south, or by circulating water through the interior of the domes (the trees being the preferred solution).

I'm sure there will be some kids getting hurt at the much larger and extensive playground that will open in a few weeks further down in the park. Planners could have gone with a different design, or used a different material until the trees were mature enough to provide shade. That looks to be a least a few years off.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/07/alg_brooklyn_bridge_park.jpg

NYguy
Apr 13, 2010, 2:43 PM
Ahh, to be a babe, in a swing, in a park, taking in the City...;)

Urch (http://www.flickr.com/photos/urch/4516267773/sizes/l/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4516267773_5ff3babca2_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4516268407_8fb00daedc_b.jpg

NYguy
Apr 21, 2010, 1:31 AM
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/04/20/play_in_brooklyn_bridge_parks_pier_6_sandbox_sometime_soon.php

Play in Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6 Sandbox Sometime Soon

http://cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4010/4538353399_bf020f60b3_o.jpg

Tuesday, April 20, 2010, by Sara

Now that Brooklyn Bridge Park has put out some of the child-sized fires at newly-opened Pier 1, it's time to move on to the park's next feature. That would be the Sandbox Village and playground at Pier 6. A Brooklyn Heights Blog tipster sent in the above photos of the under-construction sandy sensation, scheduled to open this spring. Also coming to Pier 6: 10 kinds of swing sets, a water lab, a water channel, and a water-jet field. We're not sure what any of those are, but it sounds like they'll help prevent any more child crisping.


http://cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4008/4538353781_c785a1c09a_o.jpg


http://cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4021/4538354089_2857051afb_o.jpg

photoLith
Apr 21, 2010, 3:24 AM
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/08/alg_park_domes.jpg

Seriously? People need to stop being so whinny and sue happy. That stupid little girl could have broken her dumb little nose anywhere. This is why playgrounds suck now because its way too easy to sue people over stupid crap and that women needs to not be so uber reactive. Look at her face, she just needs to be slapped silly. Yeah, metal gets hot, dont make that face and instead just kindly tell them to install the shades.

ardecila
Apr 21, 2010, 7:04 AM
^ It IS the Post, after all...

NYguy
Apr 21, 2010, 1:20 PM
^ It IS the Post, after all...

Actually that story was covered by most of the New York media (that pic and article from the Daily News)...a big deal over nothing.


Seriously? People need to stop being so whinny and sue happy. That stupid little girl could have broken her dumb little nose anywhere.

Exactly. She could have gotten run over by a bike in Central Park, or tripped over a shoe lace. People just have to use common sense and stop worrying over every little thing. Better yet, keep the kids at home.

NYguy
Apr 23, 2010, 1:30 PM
ny1

_qLpF_R6rL4

NYguy
Apr 26, 2010, 1:28 AM
epc (http://www.flickr.com/photos/epc/4539091680/sizes/l/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4539091680_d80f382d55_b.jpg


arubow4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/al76/4550804373/sizes/o/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4550804373_79f14eb070_o.jpg

BStyles
Apr 26, 2010, 1:03 PM
They really should have grown those trees some more. That's my only problem. It took over 10 years for the trees they planted along eastern parkway to provide some shade, so what does that say for these?

NYguy
Apr 26, 2010, 1:11 PM
^ If that's the biggest problem, I'd say they've done a good job...:yes:

vandelay
Apr 26, 2010, 1:30 PM
The best thing they can do for this park is to demolish those ugly 60s and 70s boxes on the NYC waterfront. Truly disgusting architecture.

NYguy
Apr 26, 2010, 2:03 PM
The best thing they can do for this park is to demolish those ugly 60s and 70s boxes on the NYC waterfront. Truly disgusting architecture.

Those boxes did destroy the skyline, but obviously they aren't going anywhere.

NYguy
Apr 27, 2010, 1:03 AM
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/18/dtg_pier1lawns_2010_04_30_bk.html

Lawn and order! Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1 grass finally opens

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/18/33_18_bridgeparklawn3_z.jpg
Locals Julia Arbesfeld and Jen Dorfman didn’t hesitate to use the new lawn — with America’s favorite game!

By Andy Campbell
April 23, 2010

Pier 1 is now officially usable!

A month after Brooklyn Bridge Park’s historic opening, the main design element of the pier — a healthy green 2.7-acre lawn — finally welcomed its first feet on Thursday morning.

Now visitors — but not their dogs — can finally stray from the winding cement pathways and picnic, play Frisbee and generally hang around.

But there are some rules.

“There will be no dogs, no chairs and no big soccer games on the lawn,” said Jeff Sandgrund, director of operations for the greenspace inside the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront development. “It’s a passive lawn — people can use it within reason.”

Vague, maybe, but The Brooklyn Paper staff went to the foot of Old Fulton Street to test the limits. Running? Check. Loitering? Go for it. We even pulled out a kiddy baseball bat and a plastic ball. You’re not going to pull off a pick-up game on Pier 1, but the great American game of catch with your kid is allowed.

Everyone seemed to want to get high on this grass.

“We love it,” said DUMBO resident Jen Dorfman, who headed straight for the pier with her friend Julia Arbesfeld when they heard that the grass, which had remained off limits so that the roots could strengthen, was open.

The lawn’s debut comes after a series of hurdles for the Empire State Development Corporation in its pursuit to open five more piers as part of a self-sustaining, 1.7-mile green space project along the DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights waterfront. Early this month, children were getting burned and injured on the play equipment at Pier 1, setting off a flurry of complaints from its visitors.

A playground on Pier 6 at the foot of Atlantic Avenue will open later this spring. And more open space on Pier 1 will open shortly after that.

The bulk of the 85-acre greenspace — consisting of Piers 2 through 5 — are not slated for completion at this point while financing is lined up.

NYguy
May 13, 2010, 5:04 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/05/13/2010-05-13_turf_war_between_city_and_state_officials_to_blame_for_stalled_fixup_of_dumbo_pa.html?r=ny_local&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fny_local+%28NY+Local%29

Turf war between city and state officials to blame for stalled fixup of DUMBO park

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/05/13/alg_ferry_park.jpg

Doreem Gallo of the DUMBO neighborhood alliance, in front of the Empire Fulton Ferry Park. She's angry the park is closed while construction work is not getting done.

BY Erin Durkin
May 13th 2010

Bureaucratic squabbling is holding up construction at a shuttered DUMBO waterfront park, the Daily News has learned.

Empire Fulton Ferry Park closed down at the beginning of the year for a $3.5 million reconstruction project, but no work has been done since then.

A standoff between state and city officials is to blame for the delay, sources said.

State Controller Thomas DiNapoli is refusing to sign off on necessary construction contracts because he doesn't think the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. - which took over the space from the state Parks Department in January - has the legal authority to do the work.

That's because a glitch in the agreement between the two state agencies left it unclear whether BBPDC has taken ownership of the site or just secured a long-term lease.

It's turned into a "huge stalemate" that has left DUMBO residents locked out of the park even though there's no construction going on, one source said.

"It's really a conflict right now between the city, who's pushing this, and the controller, who's saying the way you want to do this is not legal," the source said. "The result is this delay."

BBPDC denied any clash.

"There is no truth to the claim that the [controller's] office is holding up the construction," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Mitchell.

A spokesman for DiNapoli said he's still "reviewing" the construction contract.

The planned makeover includes adding a carousel to the New Dock St. park, installing lighting so it can stay open later, improving drainage, expanding the lawns, and adding benches, tables and bike racks.

"People are really missing the park. There's no reason for it," said Doreen Gallo, executive director of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance. "They could have opened the park, but they always hate to admit there's anything wrong."

The construction could finally get underway if representatives for the governor and state legislative leaders vote to fix the agreement next month.

"We're working with all of the parties to help resolve the issue," said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg.

NYguy
May 18, 2010, 2:38 PM
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/21/dtg_pier6preview_2010_05_21_bk.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+articles%29

Pier 6 is without peer thanks to amazing kid attractions

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/21/33_21_pier6preview05_z.jpg
Ellen Ryan of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation points to where the volleyball courts will be later this summer.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/21/33_21_pier6preview04_z.jpg
“Slide Mountain” rocks.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/21/33_21_pier6preview02_z.jpg
It’s a tee-pee-gone-slide!

By Andy Campbell
May 18, 2010

Guests at a sneak preview of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 on Saturday hailed an expansive playground — including a water park, giant sandbox and swings galore — as living up to the hype.

“I think it’s gonna be great,” said Cobble Hill resident Alex Golden as she toured the 1.6-acre playground. “I’m just excited to finally have a green space near me. When we do have kids, it’ll be perfect.”

The pier will open in June and offer a maze of different play areas for children among trees and tall grass. But later this summer, the real all-ages fun begins: a dog run, three sand volleyball courts, a restaurant with roof access, and even a plant marsh will join the mix.

But even with the pier still under construction, parents agreed that developers have lived up to their promise of a better playground, after they admitted “mistakes” in the planning of Pier 1’s kiddy park — mistakes that led to a few minor injuries.

“I love that the play area is split up in different areas — it won’t be so crowded and there’s a lot to do,” said Savita Lepore, who brought her three children on the tour.

The sneak-peek revealed many fun elements:

• At “Slide Mountain” near the entrance, large spheres and ropes make for some expert jungle gyms, and long slides careen through rock formations.

• Multiple grass-lined pathways bring you to “Swing Valley,” where there are several shaded nooks with swings for different experience levels.

• Then there’s “Sandbox Village” and a water park, where kids were dropping their jaws or an epic sandbox and kiddy river.

If that’s not enough, a restaurant is nearing completion. Developers said there are also plans to add a water taxi port and “Picnic Peninsula” near the park entrance.

_______________________________________

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/21/dtg_janescarousel_2010_05_21_bk.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+articles%29

‘Jane’s Carousel’ closer to a grand entrance in Brooklyn Bridge Park

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/30/38/30_38_dumbocarousel_i.jpg

By Andy Campbell
May 18, 2010

A 1920s-era carousel donated to Brooklyn Bridge Park may soon be as iconic as the River Café or the bridge itself, after architects revealed big plans for the attraction on Monday night.

When it moves to the park next year, the lovingly restored “Jane’s Carousel” will get some flashy upgrades, including a transparent glass pavilion that will cast silhouettes of the spinning ponies across the East River at night.

It’ll be placed on the water’s edge at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park — which will be integrated into Brooklyn Bridge Park early next year — and become a staple of the waterfront scenery.

“We’ve worked so hard restoring this carousel — and now we’re excited to have our dream architect working on the pavilion,” said Jane Walentas, the ride’s owner and wife of DUMBO developer David Walentas.

Walentas revealed the pavilion design to the Community Board 2 Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday. The carousel’s 28-foot-tall glass enclosure will be completely transparent by day — with retractable walls for year-round use — but at night, drapes will come down and a lightshow from inside will cascade the bobbing horses’ silhouettes as far as the Manhattan shoreline.

Plus, Walentas said that the ride would be completely self-sustaining and operate off of its own funds from a nearby concession rather than the park’s maintenance budget.

But as with many of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s development operations, critics barked at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation for a lack of democracy — in this case, not involving the public in picking the best site for the gift.

“This sets a precedent: if you donate something, the community doesn’t get a public-review process,” said Doreen Gallo, executive director of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance, who also objected to the light show. “We’ll also never be able to see the bridge without [the carousel in the way],” she said. “I take issue with that.”

Many community members like Gallo previously rallied to get the carousel moved to the park’s Pier 6 portion at the foot of Atlantic Avenue, but the public process was usurped because of the state’s transfer of Empire Fulton Ferry State Park to the development corporation.

Developers argued that they couldn’t turn down the “wonderful” donation, and noted that the carousel wouldn’t overpower the Brooklyn Bridge with its light scheme.

On the other hand, Walentas said that the site was her plan all along, ever since her husband David, a DUMBO real-estate titan, worked on Empire Fulton Ferry State Park.

“This carousel was bought [in 1984] for that site,” she told the community board. “We stuck to where we wanted it.”

NYguy
May 19, 2010, 2:27 PM
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=35479

June Opening Seen for Park’s Pier 6 Section
At Foot of Atlantic Ave., It Will Be Filled With Activity[

By Dennis Holt
May 19, 2010


This newspaper has been told on good authority that on or very close to June 1, the large children’s playground at Pier 6 will become the second major element of Brooklyn Bridge Park to open this year.

With an entrance off Atlantic Avenue, this part of the park will serve as an activity-filled counterpoint to the more tranquil Pier 1.

These two parts now form solid bookends to the long stretch of undeveloped park along Furman Street.

It is expected that plans for food concessions for Pier 6 will also be unveiled, one of which will be a sit-down restaurant with powerful scenic views.

The playground had been expected to open before June, but the unforeseen heating up of the steel domes in the tots’ playground at Pier 1 caused park planners and designers to carefully review every detail planned for Pier 6. And much will appear on Pier 6. The playground will contain what is described as the largest “sandbox” in the city. There will also be giant slides that will carry excited children into parts of the sandbox.

The tops of those slides will likely attract adults as well as children. The heights will reveal views not seen before, and photographers will surely want to capture them.

The playground will contain swings and traditional slides as well as some unusual attractions that are sure to be popular.

The entryway from Atlantic Avenue will be tree- and bench-lined and should be the most impressive entrance along the part of the new park stretching from Pier 1 to Pier 6. Pier 6 will also have its own Water Taxi station, complementing the already-existing one at Fulton Ferry.

Having both Pier 1 and 6 open will underscore the reality of the distance between the two park entrances. This will reinforce the need for the Squibb Playground footbridge entrance and the possibility of yet another pedestrian entrance at some future time to serve the Montague Street crowds.

Although there is no guarantee, the next area of the park that is likely to open to the public is Pier 5, a recreational and picnic setting that is fully funded. No timetable has been set for that, however.

Robert Levine, developer of the One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo building (360 Furman St.), knows how important it is for portions of the park to open. Even the opening of the remote (from 360 Furman) Pier 1 area made sales of his apartments shoot up markedly.

Now, Pier 6, a volleyball serve away, will surely have an impact on the building as well.


Pier 6 renderings...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107944/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107950/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/111107951/original.jpg

NYguy
May 19, 2010, 3:12 PM
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/21/dtg_janescarousel_2010_05_21_bk.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+articles%29

‘Jane’s Carousel’ closer to a grand entrance in Brooklyn Bridge Park

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/30/38/30_38_dumbocarousel_i.jpg

By Andy Campbell
May 18, 2010

The carousel’s 28-foot-tall glass enclosure will be completely transparent by day — with retractable walls for year-round use — but at night, drapes will come down and a lightshow from inside will cascade the bobbing horses’ silhouettes as far as the Manhattan shoreline.

...But as with many of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s development operations, critics barked at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation for a lack of democracy — in this case, not involving the public in picking the best site for the gift.

“This sets a precedent: if you donate something, the community doesn’t get a public-review process,” said Doreen Gallo, executive director of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance, who also objected to the light show. “We’ll also never be able to see the bridge without [the carousel in the way],” she said. “I take issue with that."

Developers argued that they couldn’t turn down the “wonderful” donation, and noted that the carousel wouldn’t overpower the Brooklyn Bridge with its light scheme.


Doesn't look "overwhelming" at all, from the rendering...

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/brooklyn/carousel_clash_brewing_near_brooklyn_x8KjfI24Oonf7QMU6zrcxM
Carousel fight brewing near Brooklyn Bridge

http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/2010/05/18/news/photos_stories/bridge164409--415x400.jpg

May 18, 2010
By RICH CALDER

Iconic views of the Brooklyn Bridge could soon be marred by a 1920s carousel set to be installed next to it, local activists charged last night.

The carousel would be located within a 28-foot-high, nearly 5,000-square-foot, glass pavilion designed by architect Jean Nouvel and lit up at night until up to 1 am.

“It’s going to rival the Brooklyn Bridge,” complained board member Mary Goodman.

NYguy
May 20, 2010, 2:21 PM
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/21/33_21_editorial.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+articles%29

Jane’s Carousel is good news for Brooklyn Bridge ‘Park’


Editorial
May 20, 2010

Kids of all ages got some good news this week when the developers of Brooklyn Bridge Park accepted Jane Walentas’s gift of her restored 1920s-era carousel for a spot in what is currently Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.

Of course, critics of Walentas’s husband, the DUMBO development titan David Walentas, seized on the announcement as another chance to take a deep quaff from the mug of Haterade.

Yes, David Walentas is controversial. Yes, he has made an enormous fortune from his decision decades ago to buy up warehouses and turn them into a thriving — and expensive — boutique community.

Yes, he sometimes treats the neighborhood like his own little fiefdom (though the guy gets credit for keeping out the homogenized chain stores that are turning every other neighborhood into Anytown, U.S.A).

Yes, his desire to build a tall apartment tower near the Brooklyn Bridge last year annoyed some people who say that views of the bridge would be obscured.

And, yes, Brooklyn Bridge Park could have done a better job of making sure the Walentases went through a transparent process before signing off on the carousel and its glass-walled, Jean Nouvel-designed pavilion.

And yes, some DUMBO anti-development types are still angry at Nouvel for his desire to build a fancy hotel on what is now the Pier 1 portion of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

But come on, people, let it go — we are talking about a merry-go-round here!

Jane Walentas deserves credit, not scorn, for her desire to see the carousel — which she salvaged and restored — find a home that benefits the larger community. And her offer to bring in one of the world’s greatest architects to design its corresponding pavilion is good news for anyone who appreciates fine design over the kind of bland pap that city bureaucrats would likely create.

The larger issue is that the carousel is part of a round of positive news that Brooklyn Bridge Park development officials have been able to trumpet this year — and that may be why opponents are so frustrated. Of course, this newspaper has long decried the development scheme that finances the park’s maintenance budget through housing and other commercial operations inside the footprint, but for now, we are all benefiting from increased open space, new playgrounds and, yes, the Walentases’ offer of a carousel.

Sandy
May 23, 2010, 5:24 AM
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010206.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010205.jpg

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http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010220.jpg

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http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010212.jpg

NYguy
May 23, 2010, 2:16 PM
Great shots. This is the section of the park that's supposed to open next month...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010214.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010213.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/sandyuspatriot/NY%202010/NYC2010212.jpg

NYguy
May 24, 2010, 1:29 PM
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/08/alg_park_domes.jpg

Seriously? People need to stop being so whinny and sue happy. That stupid little girl could have broken her dumb little nose anywhere. This is why playgrounds suck now because its way too easy to sue people over stupid crap and that women needs to not be so uber reactive. Look at her face, she just needs to be slapped silly. Yeah, metal gets hot, dont make that face and instead just kindly tell them to install the shades.

More follies from the Parks Dept.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/parks_give_it_another_fry_ssZx5SK1LapkiHFfCzmTYO?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=
Parks give it another fry

By RICH CALDER and SHARI LOGAN
May 24, 2010

Once burned. Twice, why?

When children were scorched on the new metal playground structures in Brooklyn Bridge Park last month, large festival tents were put up to keep the shiny domes in the shade -- but the city did nothing to safeguard a nearly identical, but larger, piece of equipment at Union Square Park.

The massive metal climbing dome, dubbed “The Mountain,” was the hit of the new $2.4 million Union Square playground, when it opened earlier this year, but after baking in the sun for a few hours, heat can be seen rising from the structure.

“Ow! Ow! My leg, it burns!” cried Duncan Logley, 6, of Manhattan, as he climbed the dome Friday.

His mother, Cathy Logley, uttered the sentiment of many other parents also interviewed: that the new playground looks magnificent, but the city should’ve anticipated that The Mountain, two nearby slides and other exposed metal play pieces are heat magnets.

But the problem should not have come as a surprise to city officials, given that the new Brooklyn Bridge Park playground, which was designed by the same landscape architect, Michael Van Valkenburgh, had the same problem in April.

Park workers there had to install large festival tents over the domes, and they now regularly must move the tents on hot days as the sun shifts.

Shortly after the Post contacted the Parks Department Friday, workers hung yellow caution tape around The Mountain and installed signs saying, “The dome is too hot to play on right now. It will open again as soon as the weather permits.”

Parks Department spokeswoman Vickie Karp later issued a statement saying a permanent shade structure would soon be installed to prevent the piece from getting too hot on warm days.

But some parents aren’t happy with that plan either.

Chris Bierlein, a father of two youngsters, said he believes covering the piece seriously taints its artistic beauty and makes it less enjoyable for kids.

Bierlein, 43, said "it should be up to parents to use common sense and decide whether the play equipment" is too hot.

Geoffrey Croft, of the nonprofit group New York City Park Advocates, said such logic leaves the city open to litigation.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that this kind of playground equipment can burn people,” said Croft. “In fact, it gets so hot that you can fry an egg on it.”

The spanking new 15,000-square-foot playground at Union Square is triple the size of the previous play area at the historic 170-year-old park and part of a community-driven $20 million facelift to the historic green space’s north end.

Van Valkenburgh, who designed the structure, declined to comment.

:haha:

BStyles
May 24, 2010, 1:50 PM
Hah! No comment! What kind of idiot places a steel metal amusement out in the sun on a hot summer day for kids to play on?

Might as well call it a skillet and turn the whole place into Ihop.

NYguy
May 24, 2010, 1:57 PM
Hah! No comment! What kind of idiot places a steel metal amusement out in the sun on a hot summer day for kids to play on?

Might as well call it a skillet and turn the whole place into Ihop.

I don't know what's funnier. The parks dept. making an even bigger mistake, or the people who are "shocked" that the thing gets hot. (I'm sorry, but that quote from the kid screaming is hilarious).

NYguy
Jun 23, 2010, 7:50 PM
Haven't gotten over to the new Pier 6 since I've been back, but I will...

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/26/dtg_gb_bbppier6access_2010_06_25_bk.html
Danger zone! Getting to the new Pier 6 is no joyride

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/26/33_26_pier6mess04_z.jpg

By Gary Buiso

When it comes to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s new Pier 6 playground, getting there is none of the fun.

The new mega-play area at the foot of Atlantic Avenue has been earning rave reviews for its water playground, swing area and even its “Slide Mountain” — but users say that walking or biking to the new amenity is a perilous journey fraught with danger at treacherous intersections and highway entrance ramps.

“It’s chaotic — especially with kids,” said Megan Moncrief, a nanny who was dodging cars on Monday afternoon at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Columbia Street, one block from the waterside Xanadu.

The area’s venerable civic group has quickly jumped on the call for the city to do something.

Judy Stanton, the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association said she attended the Pier 6 ribbon-cutting earlier this month, and had a glorious time — up until it was time to go home.

“I walked back and thought, ‘Uh oh, this is scary!’” she recalled of her jaunt along Atlantic Avenue. “They will need to make it safer, and that is the Department of Transportation’s job.”

Three approaches to the park have proved most vexing: Atlantic Avenue, Columbia Street and Pier 7.

• Approaching the pier along Atlantic Avenue is particularly formidable, as pedestrians must cross exit ramps to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway, encountering eastbound vehicles on Atlantic turning left to get on the highway, along with right-turning cars and trucks.

And at the northern terminus of Columbia Street, a right-on-red signal that allows cars to turn east onto Atlantic is virtually ignored, as vehicles roll through what has now become a major crossing nexus.

With cars and trucks coming from every direction, park-users are befuddled.

“There are no yield signs anywhere,” said confused mom Kathryn Kempton. “It’s time to reassess the traffic pattern.”

• Taking Columbia Street is no walk in the park either.

On the west side, pedestrians must gingerly navigate a narrow two-way bike path without any protective barrier, a tight squeeze for a childless fun-seeker — and an impossible proposition for a parent with a stroller.

And cyclists aren’t immune to the poor planning either.

Hannah Miles said she was biking on her way from Red Hook to DUMBO, when she abruptly reached the end of the lane and headed into oncoming traffic on Furman Street, narrowly missing a car, but falling off her ride.

“The lane shouldn’t just stop like that,” she said. “I was expecting the bike lane to continue, and then I didn’t expect a car to come from Furman Street because there was a big ‘Do not enter’ sign there. It almost hit me!”

• And it’s no better to use the sidewalk that hugs Pier 7, whose entrance is on the south side of Atlantic Avenue, directly across from the playground. That’s because about a 100 trucks rumble in and out of the area each day from the Phoenix Beverage depot on the pier.

“At several places crossing over to the park entrance, children and adults are literally walking in between trucks and buses to hurriedly get to the park,” according to Judi Francis, the president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, a group that opposes development inside the park.

“This is the fault of state planners for not listening to community suggestion for how to make it safer before it opened,” she added. “It’s irresponsible.”

At one point, there had been talk of a pedestrian tunnel underneath the BQE, providing a safe passage to Pier 6, but Francis said, the idea was summarily ignored.

Brooklyn Bridge Park planners declined to comment, saying only that they are working on a solution.

In anticipation of the pier’s opening, the Department of Transportation did install a pedestrian signal across the BQE on-ramp on the north side of Atlantic Avenue west of Hicks Street. But not all crossings have traffic lights, and the existing lights offer precious little time to cross, according to one area mom too frazzled to give her name.

“Yeah, I was a little worried,” she said. “Let’s just say we ran across as fast as we could.”

Making matters worse, drivers are already dealing with a dangerous situation, as state transportation data reveals that the entrance and exit ramps between Columbia and Hicks have an astonishing 10 to 14 times the national average for accidents.

“The drivers aren’t used to the pedestrians,” noted park-user Ellen Martin.

By all accounts, it’s worth the hassle to get to the $55-million pier play area, with its cornucopia of child-themed attractions, including swings, jungle-gyms and water play zones.

And even more crowds are expected later this summer, as park developers say they will be adding a dog run, volleyball courts, a plant marsh and a restaurant.

— with Ben Kochman

NYguy
Jun 23, 2010, 8:00 PM
From the recently opened Pier 6...

CaptainKidder (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaunceymellows/4684656850/sizes/l/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4684656850_0fda1fb5da_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4684606434_052cc8d4be_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4683975715_60f24ba917_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4684602994_603e720d9d_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4683955801_88dd72c952_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4683941963_3fdc5983f8_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4684609296_f0b0aacbbe_b.jpg

NYguy
Aug 19, 2010, 2:21 PM
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/park_enters_new_cycle_XvzdiahmFn28SuaRFPTFhM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

Park enters a new cycle

By RICH CALDER
August 19, 2010

Brooklyn Bridge Park is about to make a key connection.

Within the next week, a new bicycle and pedestrian pathway will connect the open bookends of park space at Pier 1 and Pier 6 -- almost entirely on the site of the planned 1.3-mile waterfront park in Brooklyn, officials said.

It will stretch roughly 15 blocks from Atlantic Avenue to Old Fulton Street.

A four-block stretch of the new path recently surfaced, running north from Pier 6 around the One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo complex before turning onto a barricaded two-way lane on Furman Street, from Joralemon Street until Montague Street

evanmack
Aug 19, 2010, 9:57 PM
I cannot wait for the rest of pier 1 to open which is suppose to happen in the next week or so. They have covered the asphalt with gravel which is super awesome.

NYguy
Aug 20, 2010, 2:49 PM
I cannot wait for the rest of pier 1 to open which is suppose to happen in the next week or so. They have covered the asphalt with gravel which is super awesome.

Haven't been over to the park in a while, been busy elsewhere. But it's time I got back down there to see what's going on.

NYguy
Aug 25, 2010, 12:41 PM
Barry Yanowitz (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomvu/4924798586/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4924798586_3bb7aa4bb0_o.jpg


Marie Viljoen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21024338@N05/4923767264/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4923767264_d8c3f53a9b_o.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4923766572_7bcf0614db_o.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4923766932_51f9f15176_o.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4923171137_b9bfdbcd25_b.jpg

eaguir3
Aug 26, 2010, 4:25 AM
that first pic is my new desktop background..what beautiful city New York is, cant wait to visit later this year

canada90
Sep 5, 2010, 11:41 AM
nice park :) this place looks much better than it used to be :)

NYguy
Sep 23, 2010, 3:05 PM
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/08/06/brooklynites_dont_want_a_roof_over_this_landmarks_head.php

Brooklynites Don't Want a Roof Over This Landmark's Head

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/2010_8_tobacco.jpg

Friday, August 6, 2010, by Joey

Big changes are afoot in Dumbo's Empire-Fulton Ferry Park. The tiny waterfront patch of green with incredible views is getting swallowed up by Brooklyn Bridge Park, and adding a fancy antique carousel in a barn designed by Jean Nouvel.

But what about the old stuff? What about the Tobacco Warehouse, the roofless 19th-century brick landmark that has probably hosted at least one of your friends' weddings? It might not remain exposed to the elements much longer, and that has some locals stressed out. Maybe they could use a smoke!

The rumor, according to the Brooklyn Heights Blog, is that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation is preparing to court developers interested in renovating the warehouse and turning it into an arts venue. When you think Dumbo developers, you think Two Trees, and there's also a rumor that the neighborhood overlords will propose putting a glass roof on the structure and making it the new St. Ann's Warehouse, which is getting displaced by Two Trees's controversial Dock Street condo building. Concerned neighborhood groups have already released a list of demands, including that the warehouse remain roofless so it can be preserved as a "stabilized ruin." For now everything is just talk, but we'll see if the roof, the roof, the roof situation gets dire.

http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/21007

NYguy
Oct 12, 2010, 8:43 AM
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20101011/REAL_ESTATE/101019988/0/REAL_ESTATE

Manhattan architects have designs on Dumbo
Design firm working with Jean Nouvel on a waterfront pavilion plans to move across the bridge by next month.
It's all about the view, say partners. And a few other factors.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CN/20101011/REAL_ESTATE/101019988/AR-101019988.jpg?ref=AR&MaxW=800

By Amanda Fung
October 11, 2010

...In the “small world” department, Front is working with the renowned French architect Jean Nouvel on the design of the Brooklyn waterfront pavilion that will enclose Jane's Carousel, which David and Jane Walentas bought for $384,000 in 1984. They have since restored the 88-year-old merry go-round. The Walentas' Two Trees Management Co. is Front's new landlord.

The pavilion is expected to be completed by the summer of 2011, when Jane's Carousel will open to the public at its new home in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

NYguy
Oct 18, 2010, 8:10 AM
Structures: NYC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54734589@N00/5090575990/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5090575990_94c05d930e_b.jpg

NYguy
Nov 15, 2010, 2:51 PM
ny1.com

CSse6yzTWGs

Obey
Nov 16, 2010, 1:48 AM
^^^ They make it sound like it is busy with construction but I have been in area a lot ever since they opened the expansion to pier 1 and the bike lane connecting both pier 1 and pier 6 and I have never seen any sort of construction. I know they need funding for most of the rest of the park but for the rest of the park there has been no visible construction. I only say this because I look forward to the opening of this park and want it to be open soon.

Lecom
Nov 16, 2010, 2:27 AM
I don't know what's funnier. The parks dept. making an even bigger mistake, or the people who are "shocked" that the thing gets hot. (I'm sorry, but that quote from the kid screaming is hilarious).

Sounds just about right. A bunch of idiots built a bunch of frying pans in some parks, another bunch of idiots allowed their kids to play on them during hot weather, and now the two groups of idiots are squabbling and wasting city money as kids get serious burns.

NYguy
Nov 16, 2010, 2:14 PM
^ Just one more thing for the people to whine about, and one more decision by some city officials who didn't think things through.

I have been in area a lot ever since they opened the expansion to pier 1 and the bike lane connecting both pier 1 and pier 6 and I have never seen any sort of construction. I know they need funding for most of the rest of the park but for the rest of the park there has been no visible construction.

Think you've already answered yourself on that one.

NYguy
Nov 17, 2010, 4:05 PM
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/11/17/brooklyn_great_pyramid_proposed_on_top_of_tobacco_warehouse.php

Brooklyn Great Pyramid Proposed on Top of Tobacco Warehouse

http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4103/5184121297_00e62a099b_o.png

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, by Joey Arak

Think New York has had its fill of pyramid schemes lately? Think again! Prospect Heights-based theater/dance/acrobat troupe LAVA wants to be the group selected to take over Dumbo's Tobacco Warehouse, and the newly unveiled plan includes building a pyramid inside the roof-less waterfront 19th century landmark. But LAVA has a competitor, and that's St. Ann's Warehouse, the theater group/performance space about to lose its Dumbo home due to the construction of Two Trees's Dock Street condo building. St. Ann's own plan was just revealed as well, and the controversy surrounding the Tobacco Warehouse is so stressful, we could really go for a Camel Williamsburg.

The Tobacco Warehouse is being absorbed into Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the brick building's future has been one of the park's hot topics.

Currently used as occasional event space, the Tobacco Warehouse has been eyed for a conversion to a year-round arts venue, which has neighborhood activists mad for several reasons.

Some shudder at the additional crowds and the prospect of the crumbling old ruin getting a roof put over its head. Pretty much everyone agrees that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation's selection process has been rushed and non-transparent.

There was a public meeting on Monday where complaints about these issues nearly took center stage. We say "nearly" because the two major proposals, from LAVA and St. Ann's, were revealed, and holy smokes, look at these things! Both plans call for leaving parts of the building uncovered, but otherwise they're pretty different, not to mention that one has a friggin' pyramid. (The renderings in the above gallery were yanked from the community presentation PDF.) It's expected that St. Ann's will win conditional designation, maybe as soon as today, much to the chagrin of former Partridge Family star Susan Dey, who showed up to campaign on LAVA's behalf. David Cassidy could not be reached for comment.

The Tobacco Warehouse's renovation and conversion is expected to be finished by spring of 2013, but given the continued controversy—like why the Request for Proposals was "only" sent out to 1,400 organizations—not to mention Brooklyn Bride Park's loose interpretation of deadlines, that may need to be pushed back a bit.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4090/5184721348_142cbc925a_o.png
Here's the St. Ann's plan.

http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/1303/5184721932_f604657079_o.png


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4132/5184122525_d8ba45a3cf_o.png


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/4106/5184121895_8c38c37e8a_o.png
Will preservationists have a problem with this view?

http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/1408/5184720730_6e2a97a9e2_o.png

NYC4Life
Nov 17, 2010, 5:20 PM
^^^ What the heck?

Obey
Nov 18, 2010, 1:34 AM
^^^ Too be honest, no matter how much I love this project, that looks incredibly stupid. Also, so the lack of construction is the lack of funding and thats it? NY1 was just trying to make it look busy? Gotcha

NYguy
Nov 18, 2010, 5:25 AM
^^^ Too be honest, no matter how much I love this project, that looks incredibly stupid. Also, so the lack of construction is the lack of funding and thats it? NY1 was just trying to make it look busy? Gotcha

I believe you're smarter than that.


http://www.observer.com/2010/real-estate/pyramids-dumbo-says-not-my-backyard
Pyramids? Dumbo Says Not In My Backyard

http://www.observer.com/files/full/1290010356-tobaccopyramid2.jpg

http://www.observer.com/files/uploads/tobacco-warehouse.jpg

By Laura Kusisto
November 17, 2010

As architectural gems go, pyramids are great. So are historical open-air warehouses. What's less clear is whether the two really belong together.

The battle between Prospect Heights-based dance troop LAVA and performance group St. Ann's regarding who will take over Dumbo's hallowed, hollowed-out Tobacco Warehouse has grown heated, according to Curbed. Both

Inside the empty warehouse today.groups want to keep the space uncovered, but the similarities pretty much end there.

St. Ann's proposes spiffing up the 19th century warehouse into a performance space with all the exposed brick and tasteful modern seating your traditionalist heart could desire. LAVA's design is pretty vague, except that they want a golden pyramid in the courtyard. But then they've got the Partridge Family's Susan Dey on their side, so it's pretty much a draw.

The decision could be made as early as today, but with a story involving pharaohs, NIMBYs and David Cassidy, we can only hope this fight has a mummy's lifespan.

NYC4Life
Nov 20, 2010, 7:35 PM
If this proposal goes through (God I hope it doesn't) then complete it by building an obelisk and a sphynx.

Obey
Nov 20, 2010, 11:20 PM
I think it is fine the way it is but I guess it wouldn't hurt to build it.

ardecila
Nov 21, 2010, 10:41 PM
I honestly don't see what's wrong with the pyramid. It's only a small entrance pavilion, not the Great Pyramid of Cheops. It smacks of Postmodernism, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

An ancient object made with modern materials placed inside a semi-ancient warehouse ruin? Intellectually, it's really cool.

NYguy
Nov 22, 2010, 5:04 PM
http://brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/47/dtg_tobacco_2010_11_26_bk.html

St. Ann’s Warehouse to restore Tobacco Warehouse

http://brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/47/33_47_tobaccowarehouseplans01_z.jpg


http://brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/47/33_47_tobaccowarehouseplans03_z.jpg

By Andy Campbell
November 18, 2010

The St. Ann’s Warehouse theater company — the world-renowned troupe based in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO for 21 years — will take over and renovate the vacant Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, converting it into a $15-million mixed-use performance hall and plaza, officials announced on Wednesday amid charges that the selection process was corrupt.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park board of directors green-lighted the troupe’s proposal — in an non-transparent process that was heavily criticized — to restore and build the crumbling 19th-century site into a self-sustaining community center that will host cultural events and performances year-round starting in 2013.

The choice of St. Ann’s Warehouse — popular with fans of cutting-edge theater and frequent performer Lou Reed — was not a surprise, given the company’s fundraising efforts and current location in a squat building on Water Street across from the Tobacco Warehouse. St. Ann’s execs said that they had already raised one third of its $15 million.

But Artistic Director Susan Feldman said the win would not just be a victory for theater-goers.

“There’s going to be so much more access — for us and the park-goers,” said the company’s Artistic Director, Susan Feldman, after the news came from City Hall in Manhattan. “We feel like we have a real chance to save this shell of a building and serve cultural needs of the community.”

The initial design features an open-air plaza, an enormous roofed performance space that takes up the majority of the indoor section, another multi-use show room and space for subtenants that will change throughout the year. It’s a big change for the 1870s-era Tobacco Warehouse, which is currently a roofless, slowly decaying open space that’s used for little more than wedding receptions and the occasional celebrity event.

On Wednesday, the excitement over St. Ann’s new home was unanimous. But the Brooklyn Bridge Park board meeting had become heated when community members and several elected officials decried the proceedings as scripted and lacking any of the transparency that park officials had promised.

Last month, state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights), Assemblywoman Joan Millman (D–Boerum Hill), Borough President Markowitz and a slew of other electeds demanded that Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park development company, reveal the names of companies seeking the big renovation contract for public review. Myer ignored that call, revealing the bidders in a secret meeting on Monday, less than 48 hours before the board vote.

Opponents pointed to that move as evidence that Myer’s self-proclaimed dedication to public openness was a myth. Many were also critical of Myer’s apparent refusal to consider the warehouse as a funding source for the park’s $15-million annual maintenance budget — a strategy that could reduce the need for controversial housing inside the park development’s footprint.

“[When the park opened] last year, we thought it was the beginning of a new era of transparency — that illusion has been shattered today,” Paul Nelson, Millman’s appointee to the park’s board of directors, told Myer. “Of course everyone loves what you do. But we’re giving away a property for free that will give no revenue to the park. It’s being tragically wasted.”

That said, only three board members voted against the proposal.

When we asked Myer about the controversy, she said simply, “I think this has been a very transparent process. We’ve been very open with the community.”

NYguy
Dec 10, 2010, 3:11 AM
http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2010/11/16/work-begins-on-dumbos-jean-nouvel-designed-carousel-pavilion

Work Begins on Dumbo's Jean Nouvel-Designed Carousel Pavilion

http://www.thelmagazine.com/images/blogimages/2010/11/16/1289938935-janes-carousel-111510.jpg

by Benjamin Sutton
Nov 16, 2010

Finally, now that the design by Pritzker-winning, Foucault-resembling architect Jean Nouvel has been revealed, space has been allocated, and trees have been felled, Brownstoner confirms with the groundworks photo above (taken on Friday) that construction has begun on a new pavilion in Empire Ferry State Park for Jane's Carousel, the vintage roundabout salvaged from Youngstown, Ohio, in 1984 by local real estate heavyweights the Walentases, and currently housed nearby on Water Street. Still no word on when the thing will actually start spinning.


http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/11/janes_carousel_3.php

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1031810-S1300x600.jpg?optimalizedperformance=true



http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1031810.jpg

NYguy
Jan 5, 2011, 11:24 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2011/01/04/2011-01-04_brooklyn_bridge_park_applies_for_permit_to_open_up_its_own_floating_pool_a_la_fl.html

Brooklyn Bridge Park applies for permit to open up its own floating pool a la Floating Pool Lady

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/01/04/alg_floating_pool_bronx.jpg

BY Erin Durkin and Jake Pearson
January 4th 2011

Brooklyn Bridge Park could finally get its own floating pool.

Park officials want to build a new floating pool, like the wildly popular barge-borne one that docked in the Brooklyn Heights harbor four summers ago, and last week took the first step by applying for a permit with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

"It was popular. It drew visitors from all over Brooklyn, the city, and 12 foreign countries," said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights).

"Having recreation that makes this park the citywide star that it can be is very important, and having a floating pool in the harbor would help the park reach its potential."

The city's only floating pool - called the Floating Pool Lady - has been stationed in the Bronx after its Brooklyn debut at Pier 2 near the Fulton Ferry Landing during the summer of 2007.

Park officials are hoping to construct a permanent pool atop the East River on the north side of Pier 5 near Atlantic Ave., but haven't yet raised the $5-10 million it would cost.

"It is a lot of money, but [for] a $350 million park to have a pool is an important amenity for a small fraction of the cost," Squadron said.

Critics have long complained that the well-manicured waterfront park lacks enough recreation - and a floating pool could add a new dimension.

Officials agreed to explore floating pool concept as part of an agreement made earlier this year to turn over the park from state to city control, said park spokeswoman Ellen Ryan.

"Brooklyn Bridge Park hosted a floating pool in the summer of 2007 to great success," said Ryan. "Brooklyn Bridge Park looks forward to working with elected officials and DEC to make this amenity a reality."

Floating pools have existed in the city since as early as 1817. By 1890, 4 million people a year used 15 public floating pools.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/floating-pool-010411.jpg
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/01/done_bbp_applie.php

Obey
Jan 6, 2011, 12:20 AM
^^^ I went to that when it was opened. It was pretty cool. Always wondered why they never brought it back.

sciguy0504
Jan 9, 2011, 12:00 AM
Very cool idea!

NYguy
Jan 10, 2011, 3:44 PM
^^^ I went to that when it was opened. It was pretty cool. Always wondered why they never brought it back.

They were supposed to move it around, but I think it's been in the Bronx since it left Brooklyn.

Obey
Jan 10, 2011, 11:57 PM
They were supposed to move it around, but I think it's been in the Bronx since it left Brooklyn.

Ah, I see. It's been so long since I've checked on this project but do you or anyone else know what they are working on right now? The park directly under the Brooklyn Bridge?

NYguy
Jan 11, 2011, 1:38 AM
The park directly under the Brooklyn Bridge?

Could be the Pavilion.

NYguy
Jan 13, 2011, 2:37 AM
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/brooklyn/empire_stores_park_project_finally_3twp5D0wdL6gmfJSVjpM8L

Empire Stores park project finally on track

January 12, 2011
By RICH CALDER

After years of failed attempts, a row of historic, 19th Century former coffee warehouses in DUMBO is finally set to become a major revenue source for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Officials overseeing the 85-acre city park plan announced last night that they expect to begin soliciting bids from developers for the Empire Stores warehouses along Water Street in March and to choose a winner by year’s end.

The Empire Stores project is expected to bring 325,000-square feet of retail and commercial space to the park.

Under the proposed $16.1 million maintenance budget for a built-out park, Empire Stores would generate $1,075,000 of the annual revenues needed.

Much of the rest of the budget would be paid for with high-rise condos complexes, although the city is studying alternatives to building new apartments in the park.

During a meeting at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, Regina Myer, president of the city's Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp., told members of the park’s Community Advisory Council it would up to the developer tapped to decide which type of tenants to bring to Empire Stores.

Some CAC members recommended soliciting tenants providing educational and cultural programming.

DUMBO developer David Walentas had held the rights to the Empire Stores dating back to the 1980s. But in 2002, the Empire State Development Corp., when it was overseeing the park plan, tapped rival developer Shaya Boymelgreen to develop it into a shopping mall modeled after the Chelsea Market.

But in 2005, ESDC took the site back after Boymelgreen let it deteriorate while concentrating on other developments. The ESDC then considered bringing a performing arts venue to the site, but that idea stalled in late 2007 after the buildings were declared unsafe and major renovation work became necessary.

During the CAC meeting, things got heated late when members were split over language in the new bylaws they were being asked to adopt by the city. At one point, Cobble Hill activist Judi Francis, a member, said she felt powerless and that the CAC resembled a "Kangaroo Court." Her motion to table a vote on the bylaws was narrowly rejected 11-10 with six absentees (Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster -- who has long been at odds with Francis -- had the honor of casting the deciding vote).

The bylaws were then adopted 14-7, but only after certain language was removed so the 27-member board could someday add additional seats on the CAC.

NYguy
Jan 19, 2011, 6:38 PM
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/01/19/dinner_dreams_to_become_reality_at_brooklyn_bridge_parks_pier_6.php

Dinner Dreams to Become Reality at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011, by Pete Davies

Brooklyn chefs who dream of serving visitors in Brooklyn Bridge Park still have time to pursue their waterfront fantasy over on Pier 6 at Atlantic Avenue. The folks in charge are looking for a restaurant operator "to complement the Park's ambiance and aesthetic and surrounding area while providing a convenient service to the public." The full RFP (warning: PDF) includes images of what's in store, showing a chunk of concrete clad in wood and stone. But it will take lots of work to turn this foodie dream into a restaurant reality.

Only 'respectful' boozing will be allowed.

The commitment covers a 12-year lease, and requires the restaurateur to build-out, operate and maintain the waterfront facility. Inducements for concessionaires are the 6,000 park visitors who pass by on any weekend day, plus the slew of potential customers at the pricey 430-unit One Brooklyn Bridge Park condo overlooking the site.

What the restaurant will offer should "incorporate ethnically diverse and/or healthy food choices." On-premise alcohol consumption, of the "respectful" sort, will be allowed. The deadline for submissions is January 25, but we suspect the River Café folks are already in a tizzy.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/5041/5358506862_c647313d43_o.jpg
Plans in miniature for Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/5248/5367390821_a08b22db1b_o.jpg
The box as built on Pier 6.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/5163/5358506756_b7414b5f1a_o.jpg
Where it's at.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/5204/5357892305_19e0544399_o.jpg


http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery/5045/5358507184_ec795c99ef_o.jpg

http://a856-internet.nyc.gov/nycvendoronline/vendorsearch/BidDocuments/2/BBPConcessionRFP.pdf

Roadcruiser1
Jan 19, 2011, 8:55 PM
‘Tobacco’ woes! Suit says state lied to feds to privatize Park warehouse

By Andy Campbell


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/11/18/theater/18ann/18ann-blog480.jpg
State parks officials lied to their federal counterparts in order to turn the landmarked Tobacco Warehouse into a privatized development project without any public oversight, a bombshell lawsuit alleges — and on Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the National Park Service to court for an expedited hearing in the case.

Last week, Brooklyn Heights groups sued the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, claiming that the agency worked with Brooklyn Bridge Park officials to rezone the warehouse so that it was no longer part of the federally protected parkland of Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park. The Civil War-era relic was handed over in November to the St. Ann’s Warehouse theater company, which has a $15-million plan for a performance hall and plaza.

The action was filed by members of the Brooklyn Heights and Fulton Ferry Landing associations and the New York Landmarks Conservancy to stop the transfer of the Tobacco Warehouse to St. Ann’s Warehouse. Federal Judge Eric Vitaliano agreed with the plaintiffs on the need to act quickly, ordering a hearing for next Thursday.

The state allegedly launched a covert plan in 2009 to remove the Tobacco Warehouse from the park completely — all it needed to do was tell its counterpart, the National Park Service, that nobody used the site and that it was better suited as a private amenity even though the warehouse actually has a long history of community support, funding and repair.

In turn, the National Park Service — which oversees all re-designation of state parkland — skirted its review duties by approving the state’s proposal without questioning what it was being told, the suit alleges.

In reclassifying the warehouse as non-parkland, “[the state] was pursuing a secret agenda on behalf of private, commercial interests,” the suit charges.

Foes of the deal were miffed by the alleged “subterfuge.”

“The Tobacco Warehouse is a big part of [the park’s] potential, and a unique community amenity — the process for determining its use must adhere to these principles,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights), who slammed the park’s transparency last year. “If true, the issues being raised today are disturbing and call the process into further question; they must be dealt with swiftly.”

Both state and park officials didn’t return calls by press time.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/3/dtg_bridgeparksuit_2011_1_21_bk.html?comm=1

Obey
Jan 19, 2011, 11:10 PM
http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/portfolio/2011/01/brooklyn_bridge_park.asp

Interesting story from Architectural Record

NYguy
Feb 15, 2011, 3:23 PM
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/brooklyn/sqaure_foot_bike_rental_concession_M80pNzF1RgXmvlmmqvFuoO

300-square-foot bike-rental concession coming to B'klyn Bridge Park

February 11, 2011
By RICH CALDER

Get set for a biking bonanza at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

In a move aimed at attracting more tourists to the waterfront park, the city this spring is bringing a 300-square-foot bike-rental concession to the park’s Old Fulton Street entrance by Pier 1 and Fulton Ferry Landing.

The city’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. today began soliciting bids from companies interested in renting adult bikes, children bikes and tandem bikes to the public.

The service would run mid-April to mid-October from at least 10 am to 4 pm daily. The winning bidder will get a two-year deal, with the city having an option to extend it three more years.

Ellen Ryan, a park spokeswoman, said the city sees the new service “being a hit with tourists” but also with New Yorkers who don’t own bikes.

Many tourists visit the park by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge or taking a water taxi from Manhattan.

Renters wouldn’t be limited to riding the bikes along the park’s pathways, officials said.

They could explore other parts of the borough, pedal over the Brooklyn Bridge, or even take the bikes by ferry from Pier 6 at Atlantic Avenue over to Governors Island and ride there.

The park last summer added a bicycle and pedestrian pathway that runs 15 blocks from Pier 1 to Pier 6 and serves as an interim link within the 14-mile Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway project.

The path connects to an existing half-mile bike lane that quietly popped up three years ago along the Columbia Street waterfront at DeGraw Street and runs north to
Pier 6.

Ryan said the city plans to extend the park’s bikeway north especially since the Empire Fulton-Ferry section of the park in DUMBO is set to re-open this summer. But the plans are being held up by repair work to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Obey
Feb 15, 2011, 10:03 PM
I haven't been down to the park in a while because of the weather and I am one of those New Yorkers who do not have bikes and would love to be able to ride one!

NYguy
Feb 16, 2011, 4:00 PM
I am one of those New Yorkers who do not have bikes and would love to be able to ride one!

Bike riders in New York are sometimes my sworn enemies, but in the park? Perfect! Get down there and ride (just take it easy if you decide to go over the bridge).


http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/7/dtg_tobaccoruling_2011_2_18_bk.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-Headlines+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Headlines%29
Feds: We were right about the Tobacco Warehouse

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/47/33_47_tobaccowarehouseplans01_z.jpg

By Natalie O’Neill
February 16, 2011



Federal parks officials say they did nothing wrong when they allowed the state to redraw the map of the Brooklyn waterfront to allow a historic building in a park to be redeveloped into a theater.

The National Parks Service issued the widely expected ruling on Tuesday that it supports its own 2008 decision that paved the way for the state to convert the decaying Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO into a theater and cultural center inside Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The finding won’t stop the Brooklyn Heights Association — one of three groups that sued stop the renovation — from battling on.

“It should shock anyone committed to good government,” said Jane McGroarty, president of the Brooklyn Heights Association.

The federal ruling — and the outrage over it — stems from an extremely arcane bit of map-redrawing. In 2009, the state penned new park boundary lines that reclassified the warehouse as sitting on non-parkland, thus allowing private entities to take over what was once federally protected public land.

Sure enough, in November, the world-renowned theater troupe St. Ann’s Warehouse was given development rights to convert the crumbling and roofless building into a $15-million mixed-use performance hall and plaza.

Opponents, including the Brooklyn Heights and Fulton Ferry Landing associations and the New York Landmarks Conservancy then sued, saying that the “state was pursuing a personal agenda on behalf of private commercial interests.”

The lawsuit claims two things: The state lied to feds about the location of the building so that it would no longer part of the federally protected parkland of Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park — and that the National Parks Service skirted its review duties by not questioning a state assertion that nobody used the site even though it actually has a long history of community support, funding and repair.

The Park Service finding was hailed by supporters of the St. Ann’s project.

Brooklyn Bridge Park President Regina Myer called the ruling a step towards “a world-class performance space” that “will greatly benefit Brooklyn Bridge Park and the surrounding communities.”

Park officials said that they issued the Feb. 14 finding based on information — some of it new — about land boundaries, the condition of the building and use of federal grant money in the park.

But opponents said that the feds simply buckled to pressure from state and city authorities who were intent on giving the site to St. Ann’s, and needed a secretly redrawn map.

“It’s clear that the National Park Service — an agency charged with protecting our public parkland — has reneged on this duty and has yielded to political pressure from City Hall,” said McGroarty. “We will litigate vigorously so that these ‘back room’ deals do not rob the public of what is rightfully theirs.”

Obey
Feb 16, 2011, 9:34 PM
'Decaying' I think is a strong word

Dominic
Feb 17, 2011, 5:04 AM
Hi All,
85 acre for a park is too much.
Nyguy great pictures. Could you or anyone who went there will post the recent pictures of the park and floating pool.
What is the depth of pool and is there of kids also?

Obey
Feb 17, 2011, 12:00 PM
^^^ Everything you said was wrong, weird, or creepy. The floating pool isn't even there yet and how is 85 acres too much?