Long-Awaited Greenpoint Park to Open This Saturday
Just in time for the end of summer!
Alright, so the timing for the opening of Greenpoint’s WNYC Transmitter Park is far from perfect, but at least North Brooklyn residents will have the remaining few weeks of temperate weather to enjoy what looks to be a beautiful green space, which, the New York Post reports, “features an esplanade, magnificent lawns and a children’s playground with spectacular Manhattan skyline views.”
The Post further reports that Transmitter Park is the first park to be completed since Bloomberg’s 2005 promise to “deliver roughly 50 acres of parkland…while [also] pushing through a controversial rezoning plan which has brought thousands of high-rise apartments to Williamsburg and Greenpoint’s waterfronts.” Residents have been understandably frustrated in the interceding 7 years because, while those high-rise apartments have certainly gone up as scheduled, the parks and green spaces have been much, much slower in coming.
In fact, neighborhood residents have been vocally upset about the fact that Transmitter Park has not been opened yet. Residents say that the Park has looked visibly ready for the last 6 months, and yet has remained cordoned off by fences for the duration of the summer. Although city officials deny that the park has been ready, “pointing out that safety railings were installed along the East River shoreline only last Thursday,” not everyone in the community accepts their excuses.
50th Assembly District Committeeman Lincoln Restler told the Post, “The city needed a real kick in the ass. Whatever work was done the past six months could have been done in weeks.”
That sounds about right to us. The city, though, denies this to be the case. And does not have any comments on the other proposed park spaces in the original North Brooklyn proposal, including the still non-existent 28-acre Bushwick Inlet Park project.
However, Transmitter Park will definitely be opening this weekend, which, better late than never. It is a much-needed addition to the neighborhood and adds to the ongoing beautification of Brooklyn’s waterfront. The city further plans to add to the park by “convert[ing] the former transmission towers building onsite into a café with rooftop seating and public restrooms, and it is considering offering kayaking onsite.”
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen
