What Bushwick Inlet Park Will Be

It’s been almost exactly five years to the day that the City Council passed the 2005 rezoning, promising, among other things, 28 acres of open space for the Williamsburg/ Greenpoint waterfront. The proposed plan, Bushwick Inlet Park, requires the city’s purchase of six separate parcels of land, followed by development on each of them. So far, however, only two parcels have been acquired, and only small progress has been made: a soccer field between N. 9th and 10th,, which opened at the beginning of the year. Today, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, conceived in 2007 as an outgrowth of the Greenpoint Waterfront Association of Parks and Planning (GWAPP), continues to advocate for the city’s deliverance on it’s promise for open space.

“It’s easy to forget that the city promised us this park in 2005 as part of the rezoning,” said Laura Treciokas, co-chair of Friends of Bushwick Inlet. “They have yet to deliver, and it’s not going to be an easy thing to deliver, either. There are a lot of different parcels that make up the park, and unfortunately we haven’t seen as much progress as we’d like to see in securing those plots of land.”

The final vision for Bushwick Inlet Park promises residents full access to the east river from North 9th Street to Quay Street, and includes picnic grounds, athletic fields, volleyball courts, a boat launch, a USS Monitor museum, wetland preserves, gardens, performance spaces, a dog run, and a two mile bicycle and pedestrian path. Such a park would radically change the landscape of the neighborhood, which currently ranks low on the list of open space per capita: .6 acres per 1,000 residents, whereas the Department of City Planning recommends 2.5 acres, and the citywide average is 3.5 acres.

“Open space is something that we really lack, and that was recognized in the rezoning,” said Trina McKeever, Founder of the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park. The city made certain promises, and we need it. Especially with the increased density that came with the rezoning, there are just that many more people.”

Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park aims to involve and inform the community about the process to realize the city’s promise for open space. Their new website, engineered and designed pro bono by Manuel Dilone and Jeremy Schoenherr, provides a detailed and up-to-date account of the current situation. It includes a call for volunteers—to help get involved, raise awareness, lobby public officials, and plan events and fundraising.

“I live on Oak Street and I have three teenage sons who’ve grown up playing on the street because there wasn’t a neighborhood park to go to,” McKeever said. “It was a shame there wasn’t a park of them to go to.”

“By having the website and having the information out there, we’re hoping to fire up community to try and push the elected officials and parks department to keep their promise,” she continued. “We’re hoping the information will breed interest and that we’ll have a bigger collective voice. We don’t want the city to renege on their promise.”

Last Saturday, they held a barbeque fundraiser in conjunction with Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) at The Diamond on Franklin Street, raising $830, over half the money necessary for executing a landscaping plan to green the strip of public trees that front Bushwick Inlet by N.14th and 15th. NAG volunteer Cara White, who has a background in landscaping design, created the plan, which involves planting native plants and flowers.

“A lot of people bike and walk past that area, but because that area is so overgrown and often dirty, it’s not really a place you want to linger and spend anytime, which is unfortunate,” Treciokas said. “We envision creating something that would encourage people to linger.”

Over 75 people came to show their support, including Councilmember Stephen Levin.

“We met with Stephen Levin in March and we were very encouraged by what he had to say, and by the support he intends to offer in terms of making this happen,” Treciokas said. “He’s very much a supporter of open space.”

Though only a small step in the process of greening the 28-acre area, the new soccer field between N.9th and 10th has already become a heavily-used space for the community, providing a space for athletic groups, including the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Youth Soccer League.

Although permits are generally required for use of City athletic areas, Friends of Bushwick Inlet, in conjunction with NAG and Open Space Alliance (OSA), have also initiated a community time program, which reserves half of the field between 6-8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 4-6pm on Sundays. Community members are encouraged to submit proposals for public use of the space during those times. This weekend, for example, The North Brooklyn Runner Club is holding a Barefoot Running Clinic.

Soon, the city will begin on the second phase of development on the parcel where the soccer field is, which will include a sloping grass hill over a building, which will provide space for community meetings, exhibitions, and the regional offices for the Parks Department and Open Space Alliance. This phase will also extend the parkland to the waterfront, and expected to be completed by Spring 2011.

To find out more about Bushwick Inlet Park, reserve community time on the soccer field, or learn about ways to get involved, visit bushwickinletpark.org.

Share