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…
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…