Photo by Michael Gonik
Greenpoint is Now Home to The Tiniest Beach in Brooklyn
The Motiva section of Bushwick Inlet Park on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg border finally opens, following more than a decade of delays
Residents of North Brooklyn no longer need to bear the trek down to Coney Island or Manhattan Beach or The Rockaways to put their toes to some sand and have a cold one on a sweltering day. The “inlet” component of Bushwick Inlet Park is now fully functional and open to the public, offering locals a small sliver of coastal life on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg border, looking out on the Alphabet City skyline across the East River and whichever strain of migratory bird that might be passing through its narrow, maybe 10-foot-wide, opening to water of questionable, at best, quality.
The slip we’re referencing here is the Motiva parcel, a 1.8-ish acre stretch of the park named after a gas company that used to own the land, with a glossy residential building to the north, Franklin Street to the east, and the still-undeveloped section of Bushwick Inlet to its immediate south.
Photo by Michael Gonik
On an overcast day in mid-May, it wasn’t much of a sight to behold—a few remote workers were extending their lunch break with a saunter on some rocks along the water or taking calls and checking emails on one of the half-dozen or so benches hugging a winding path leading back out to Franklin. There was a pair of Canadian geese plodding along the bend when we pulled up, and, from what little we understand about the flight patterns of birds in the area, they’re apparently an increasingly common guest here.
Motiva’s opening was a long time coming, but it represents the first measurable movements in a broader mission to restore the entirety of the 27 acres of Bushwick Inlet Park, a promise the city made when it acquired the land two administrations ago (Motiva was purchased by the city for $5 million in 2014.) It’s been over 20 years since that project was announced as part of the 2005 neighborhood rezoning, and there’s barely been any progress.
But what better setting to wait out bureaucratic inefficiencies than from the most charmingly tiny beach in Brooklyn, feet sunk in, Merlin app collecting the chirps, caws, and coos of countless feathered creatures flying by?
