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While stuffing your face with cheesecake ice cream from Wowfulls at Smorgasburg, you may have noticed that the park you're in is... kind of small. With a huge parcel of land including a massive CitiStorage facility in the way of completing the proposed 28 acre Bushwick Inlet Park, the waterside area has remained in a state of limbo for over a decade. After a calamitous fire in 2015 burned down the CitiStorage facility, activists and residents demanded that the city buy the obstructing land and finally finish the park. This morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio's office tweeted a letter addressed to the property owners, New 10th Street LLC, offering $100 million for the remaining parcels of land.
Though Bushwick Inlet Park has been in development since the ‘80s, much of the space has been occupied by private owners. Currently resting on Kent Ave between N 9th and 10th Sts, the park features soccer and football fields, a green activities building, playgrounds and waterfront access. If bought by the city, the final parcel of land would allow the Park to expand further into Greenpoint, up to N 12th St.
Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park have stepped up their activist efforts to seal the deal, posting "Where's Our Park?" posters and hashtags, petitions and donation links to help with legal support to take on the landlords. With the Mayor's official support, Williamsburg and Greenpoint residents may finally have the breathing room they deserve.
You can learn more and support park efforts at the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park site.