Brooklyn Bridge Park has moved on up with the addition of elevated acreage that opened on Saturday.
The so-called “uplands” add four and a half football fields of grassy knolls to the stretch of park nearest to the harbor, below the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, on piers 3 and 4, and are the first pieces of those piers to open. The weekend also marked the opening of a bike and footpath that runs between Furman Street and the water, connecting all the piers in that section of the green space.
The addition also includes a granite terrace and a hill that is supposed to keep the peace in the park by blocking sound from the nearby Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Visitors can enter the park addition at Pier 5 or Pier 1, past Pier 2’s pop-up pool, which is closed for the winter.
The uplands on Pier 3 and Pier 4 are the second of two new areas of the park to open this year. Pier 2 of the park, which will include several sports courts, will open in early 2014, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park corporation.
“Opening the Piers 3 and 4 uplands means even more people will have more access to more of Brooklyn Bridge Park and our waterfront,” said State Sen. Daniel Squadron in a written statement. “That’s great news for all of us who’ve been fighting to expand this extraordinary park with year-round recreation and real community access.”
