Park Test Files #3, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Feb 01 2010 11:02 PM
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I grew up in MI where one cultivates a healthy “respek” for frost bite, while the Park Test Mom grew up in Mumbai where people wear jeans year round and anything below a daytime high of 90 is a respite. And yet she and the rest of the Park Test Team are the ones who could not care less how cold it is. Snow pants? Not really. Mittens? No daddy, it’s much more fun for you to unfreeze my frozen fingers...yes I know that the mitten clips make my hand wear highly accessible but no, I still will not wear them.
Mittens or not, we do love to try out new parks. And so the Park Test Team took its first collective trip to Brooklyn Bridge Park via Mr Goodcar. Mr Goodcar is a brown Cooper Mini Clubman, with plenty of room for a family of four (two peanuts in back of an ugly brown car, get it?), 39mpg highway, and clearly isn’t public transportation but when it’s zero out I feel less bad about passing on the Park Test Bike or public transportation.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is located in DUMBO (Brooklyn) along the East River, between the Manhattan Bridge and Atlantic Avenue. It includes Pier 1 and Pier 6, both of which are currently being completely redeveloped...the effort is described as the most significant park development in Brooklyn since Prospect Park was built 135yrs ago. Like any good construction project in the middle of a city and state budget crisis they are both behind schedule. Pier 1 sounds like sooner than later, and Pier 6 hopefully by mid-Year. In the meantime you can check out this fairly cool webcam link which has time lapse photos of the construction.
Even without the Piers, Brooklyn Bridge Park offers the destination Main Street Playground, a dog run, and some stunning waterfront views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, along with Manhattan itself. In the summer they host outdoor movies (which will definitely be summarized in the iParks Events info), sunbathers, and Grade A people watching. If there’s a knock on the park the subway trains going across the Manhattan Bridge are Loud with a capital L, but the Park Test Kids were excited to see subway trains suspended in mid air after the initial auditory shock.
The Main Street Playground is a modern playground in a nautical them including a toddler appropriate tug boat, a massive sailing ship, and even a pier playground. There’s also a small sandbox, an elaborate water feature, and a tire swing. The extensive ramps on the playground make an unusually effective elevated maze which delighted the Park Test Kids. Until they turned into bricks of ice.
The dog run is located directly underneath the Manhattan Bridge so if Rover is jumpy...this might not be your run. It has a mulched surface with limited seating.
The neighborhood is gentrified leaving a quirky mix of newer restaurants, as well as old school options like Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. We look forward to visiting Pier 1 and Pier 6 when they’re finally open, and hopefully by then the weather will be better too! Two frozen thumbs up, definitely worth checking out! And let us know your thoughts!
Links:
BrooklynBridgePark.org
BrooklynBridgeParkNYC.org