Under the K Bridge Park, a long-awaited greenspace beneath the Kosciuszko Bridge in Greenpoint, opened on Tuesday, offering a brand-new place for locals to spend their days amid the fresh outdoors, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.
“The Kosciuszko Bridge project continues to reap benefits not only for motorists, pedestrians and the cycling community, but for a North Brooklyn community craving for more open space in the midst of a worldwide pandemic,” Cuomo said May 25.
The State Department of Transportation built the nearly 7-acre, mostly-hardscape park in the vacant lot under the Brooklyn-Queens span next to the heavily-polluted Newtown Creek — which was announced as part of the $873 million reconstruction of the bridge in 2019.
The park, designed by Canadian firm Public Work, offers elevated lawns, a rain garden, wetland gardens, trees, and a large hill to accommodate watching performances, along with a plaza and connections to the bike and pedestrian path on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge above.
A space along the Newtown Creek, a federal Superfund site, called “Creekside” features foundations of the old Kosciuszko Bridge which was built during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and was torn down in 2017 to make way for its larger successor.
The State-owned plot will be maintained by greenspacce stewards the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, who will also be responsible for programming. One of the group’s founders said the new outdoor area will be a boon to the neighborhood, which lacks easy access to other parks.
“North Brooklyn has been historically underserved with its amount parks and open space,” said Joseph Vance. “With very little land available to create new parks, Under the K Bridge Park opens the door for innovative transformation of underutilized public land for open space.”
The park was originally slated to open in summer of 2020, but was delayed amid the pandemic — although the yet-to-be-opened park became the grounds for a secret rave last summer as hundreds of revelers flocked to the space until police broke up the party, Gothamist reported.
Under the K Bridge [enter at Van Dam Street and Meeker Avenue in Greenpoint, www.nbkparks.org]. Open daily from dawn until dusk.
