They really know how to make an entrance.
The operators of Brooklyn Bridge Park are in the midst of spiffing up a stretch of dowdy Furman Street with a wider sidewalk, new lights, and vegetation to make the entryway to the green space’s newest segment a little more welcoming.
“The sidewalk was in terrible condition and definitely needed to be redone,” said David Lowin, who is the interim president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
The park is expanding the aging sidewalk from 3 feet to 5–10 feet, and sticking in new trees and streetlights along the currently dingy pavement between Joralemon and Montague streets.
The spruce-up is part of the park’s new Pier 5 Uplands area, which was previously a big concrete lot where the Smoragsburg food market and Photoville photography show did their things.
The new addition will include a boathouse with public restrooms, a grassy hill, and gardens next to the waterfront picnic area.
The boathouse will have storage for the park’s kayaks on the first floor, and a space that can be used as a classroom on the upper level.
The upgrade includes a new drop-off point at the Montague Street entrance, with a wider turning radius so larger vehicles can let out passengers near the boathouse.
The park is also in the midst of straightening the Joralemon Street side of the so-called “loop road” that runs around the One Brooklyn Bridge Park condominium building to Atlantic Avenue, which will make it easier for pedestrians to walk along the stretch without drifting into traffic, according to Lowin.
“The current road curves a lot and is not a direct path and sometimes pedestrians walk in the street,” he said.
Construction is underway now and is expected to be completed by summer.
