Jun. 20, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen The city’s parks department this week unveiled a new “mini forest” on a formerly little-used lot on the Williamsburg waterfront. Tucked into the North Fifth Street Pier and Park, the leafy plot is filled with native plants and trees, part of the parks department’s effort to increase the…
Jun. 11, 2025 By Brennan LaBrie Elizabeth Leacock’s son Xaire, 12, has always been drawn to the water. But when he almost drowned at age six, Leacock knew he needed swim lessons. “At least I’d have some comfort that he’d survive on his own if he were to get himself into trouble,” she said.…
Jun. 9, 2025 By Megan McGibney Brooklyn residents and leaders from the business, nonprofit, higher education and political sectors gathered last week to tackle a pressing question: What policy ideas can make Brooklyn more affordable and better positioned for future growth? The symposium, held at NYU Tandon School of Engineering at MetroTech Center, was based…
Jun. 6, 2025 By Adam Daly After more than two years under scaffolding, the more than 130-year-old Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza emerged from its extensive restoration on Thursday. The $8.9 million project, led by the Prospect Park Alliance and backed by mayoral funding, also included improvements to the area surrounding…
May. 20, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen Summer has arrived in New York City — unofficially, at least — and Brooklyn’s beaches will open for swimming on Saturday, May 24. Lifeguards will take their stands at Coney Island beach, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach at 10 a.m. that day, and the beaches will be open…
Apr. 22, 2025 By Gabriele Holtermann Council Member Chi Ossé, New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) and local park advocates rallied Monday at Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant, calling on Mayor Eric Adams to restore funding for the city’s Parks Department and 800 parks-related jobs. Park advocates say underfunding and understaffing have led to…
Apr. 17, 2025 By Adam Daly Over 400 student volunteers from across the city helped plant native beach vegetation along the dunes of Coney Island Creek Park this past planting season, part of an effort to combat flooding and climate impacts threatening the southern Brooklyn neighborhood. The students — representing 20 public schools from…
Apr. 15, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen To tree, or not to tree? That is the question at the center of the third lawsuit targeting the city’s long-planned overhaul of Fort Greene Park. The lush but aging greenspace was chosen as one of eight city parks to be overhauled by the Parks Without Borders program…
Mar. 13, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen Months after hundreds of brush fires burned through Brooklyn’s green spaces, its parks are still recovering — and girding themselves for a future where those blazes are more frequent. This week, the Prospect Park Alliance and Marine Park Alliance were among five city park groups to receive “wildfire…
Feb. 21, 2025 By Alesandra Tejeda The timer started at 8:11 a.m last Saturday morning. Almost immediately, Laura Waterbury, an environmental educator with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and the leader of the morning’s birdwatching walk, shouted: “Oh! In the water!” Everyone turned to peer through their binoculars at the Double-crested Cormorant that had…