How a park under NYC’s formerly “most hated” bridge became its coolest venue

The walk from the Graham Avenue L station was just 30 minutes, but on the first really warm day of the early summer as the shaded sidewalks of Williamsburg disappeared into an increasingly industrial, treeless landscape, I kept wondering if the schlep would actually be worth it. 

When I arrived at my destination under the Kosciuszko Bridge (I can hear my father chuckling in disbelief), I was more than pleasantly surprised. This was June 2021 and I was there for Reggae Under the Bridge—one of the early, legally-sanctioned events held after the most strict Covid regulations had been lifted. My whole community and many more were there enjoying the sun, cool shade and—well into the evening—deep cuts blasting out of a massive sound system that overlooked the Newtown Creek and the eastern Manhattan skyline. It was absolutely joyous. 

Today, Under the K-Bridge has become one of New York’s most unique and hippest venues. The 6.7-acre site—an open-air, multiuse space owned by the State Department of Transportation and run by the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance—has seen everything from events held by House of Yes to massively-attended DJ sets from popular electronic acts like Björk and Four Tet (whose recent set featured a surprise appearance from Skrillex). Alternative acts have taken to the space too: Hardcore punk group Turnstile performed at the K-Bridge in early June and CBGB Fest will bring the likes of Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols and the Linda Lindas to the space in late September.

“Under the K-Bridge wants to take all my money this summer,” says Brooklyn-based writer Ana Yglesias, who plans to attend Ladyland Festival with Cardi B and FKA Twigs in June. 

Bands, bookers and fans like Yglesias are drawn to Under the K-Bridge for its only-in-New-York vibe. “Under the K-Bridge offers such a unique experience for New Yorkers, something very raw, gritty and for the music,” says GRAMMY-winning South African DJ Black Coffee, whose two-night stand at the venue in 2024 drew thousands.

“You feel like you’re part of a secret.”

“You’re in the trendiest neighborhoods in New York, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and then it kind of becomes this industrial neighborhood that you can’t quite figure out what you’re getting into,” says Jim Glancy, copartner of Bowery Presents, the main agency booking the venue. “Then you start to hear music, and you’re under this bridge and there’s five or six or seven thousand people with sound and lights and this incredible music, and I think it is just touching people in a pretty incredible way.”

Katie Denny Horowitz, executive director of the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, points to a unique juxtaposition of nature and development. “[Under the K-Bridge exists] against the backdrop of the kind of gritty New York City that, I think, a lot of people are yearning for. It is not a fake space. It is a space that you do not just come across. You feel like you’re part of a secret.” 

The park is situated directly under the BQE between Van Dam Street and Newtown Creek—a place that once seemed largely inaccessible due to the industrial business zone surrounding it and the traffic overhead. When a $1 billion makeover of the original Kosciuszko Bridge (the city’s “most hated,” per the New York Times) was completed in 2019, the Parks Alliance was already working on a plan to build out the space underneath the bridge’s southern span. The Alliance held community workshops and visioning sessions, eventually landing on a multiuse space that included a skate park and a small amphitheater. 

Crucially for music lovers, “large-scale events were something that was part of [the park’s] DNA before shovels even hit the ground,” Denny Horowitz says. 

Following an illegal rave and a couple of break-ins by excitable skaters, the space officially opened in June 2021. Because the park is owned by the state rather than the city, Under the K-Bridge was subject to slightly different Covid regulations around gatherings. The Alliance’s rollout of live events was incremental, beginning with community programming like Reggae Under the Bridge and House of Yes’s Summer of Love. 

The Alliance partnered with Bowery Presents—which operates venues like Brooklyn Steel and Webster Hall, and worked with NBPA to program concerts at McCarren Park Pool a decade prior—in 2024. Last year, Bowery presented nine shows at the K-Bridge; this year it has 15 planned.

“This is obviously a completely raw space that isn’t on everyone’s radar at this point,” says Glancy. “The first few shows we’ve had [this season], we’ve had industry out and they’re just losing their minds about how cool it is. So I think over time, more and more artists will hear about it.” 

Hosting concerts Under the K-Bridge isn’t without issue, however. There are no services—porta-potties must be brought in and there’s nothing resembling the back-of-house infrastructure of an established venue. That austere atmosphere might lend itself more to an electronic DJ who has fewer crew on the road and requires less backline, or a punk band more attuned to the rough-hewn aesthetic of the place. 

“It’s also a public park with no public funding. Every dollar that is used to maintain the park… whether it’s seating or horticultural features, we have to raise,” Denny Horowitz says. “Part of the funding model was to be able to have events there that could earn enough revenue to actually pay to support the park.”

Which isn’t to say Under the K-Bridge has been an unprofitable venture. Glancy characterized Bowery’s 2024 series on site as “absolutely positive” while 2025 “looks good”—even for a business with tight margins. However, given the level of build required for each show, Under the K-Bridge is best fit for artists who can command higher ticket prices. Tickets to Turnstile’s June 5 show are around $110 as of writing; Jamie xx, who will perform over two nights in early August, commands up to $153 for VIP admission.

The North Brooklyn Parks Alliance has been host to about two dozen shows each outdoor season since 2021 and has no plans to slow down. They’re working toward becoming a zero-waste event space and also plan to continue working with community organizers on free events.

“We steered away from creating this identity for the space, because it has organically achieved this reputation for attracting folks from all over the city,” Denny Horowitz says. “The bridge itself is so mesmerizing. It has the light show from above, you have these columns overhead. That is something that isn’t a visual and physical presence in any other space.”