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…
Jan. 13, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen Though it has been temporarily disassembled, the Bed-Stuy Aquarium has big plans for the future, organizers said last week, and those plans haven’t changed despite recent news about one of its co-founders. The controversial sidewalk fish “pond” made headlines again this month when Hajj Lovick, who helped create…
Dec. 26, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen A Mulch-y Christmas to all! The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation wasted no time helping Brooklynites give their live Christmas trees a responsible “fir-well” as its annual holiday, Mulchfest, kicked off on Dec. 26. New Yorkers buy thousands of live Christmas trees each year, and…
Dec. 19, 2024 By Lauren Rapp There’s a new barista at Prospect Park. Poetica Coffee can now be found slinging coffees from their new mobile food and coffee cart located near the Willink Plaza Entrance. The cart is officially open to the public, offering a full menu of coffee, snacks, and pastries. The menu…
Dec. 6, 2024 By Adam Daly The newly renovated Vinland Playground in Bay Ridge officially reopened Wednesday following a $3.4 million facelift. NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue and City Council Member Justin Brannan joined residents on Dec. 4 to celebrate the upgrades, which include a toddler playhouse, two new swing sets, and a colorful…
Nov. 13, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen Days after a highly unusual brush fire broke out in Prospect Park, things seemed almost back to normal. Brooklyn’s Backyard was full of visitors on Tuesday, and on first glance, the two-acre stretch of the park’s Ravine, where the fire started on Nov. 8, looks relatively unmarred. On…
Nov. 1, 2024 By Jada Camille Kaiser Park is set to get its day in the sun. Council Member Justin Brannan announced he has secured $10 million for capital upgrades at Coney Island’s Kaiser Park. The funding, part of the Fiscal Year 2025 city budget, marks the first major capital improvement for the park.…
Oct. 11, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen A new report by the city’s Department of Transportations reimagines the trenches and viaducts of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as cleaner, safer roadways with plenty of public space. The 154-page document, titled “BQE North and South: Safe, Sustainable, Connected,” lays out a series of proposals for seven different sections…
Oct. 8, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen The end is finally near for the hulking CitiStorage building in what will soon be part of Bushwick Inlet Park. Crews started demolishing the long-empty building this summer, and should be done by the end of the year, according to Mary Salig, the parks department’s director of North…
Aug. 16, 2024 By Natalie Dahan What began as a tribute to the victims of Sept. 11 is now in its 23rd year, bringing color, civic engagement and community to New York. Over the years, the Daffodil Project has brought together more than 500,000 volunteers to plant over 10 million freely distributed daffodil bulbs…