Waterfront Park Opens at Greenpoint Landing
GREENPOINT – One of the key concessions made by developers eager to erect high-rise luxury rental towers along the North Brooklyn waterfront has been the inclusion of public green space along the water. This week, one such space at the northern end of Greenpoint opened up for use.
At the top end of the neighborhood, at the very end of Franklin Street, at Commercial, two rental buildings and one 30-story tower stand nearly complete. Apparently, leasing will begin at the end of the summer.
But walk past some of the construction and you’ll find you can already access a waterfront esplanade that provides stunning views across to Manhattan, as well as a look at the Hunter’s Point south end park. Keep looking north and it’s just some factories across Newtown Creek, but the main parts of the view aren’t bad!
The two small roads that will provide access to the towers are Blue Slip and Bell Slip, off of Commercial Street. Along with the three complete buildings at the site, the first levels of a second 30-story tower are beginning to rise at the water’s edge.
Though renting a place to live there will be a privilege of the ultra-rich, the public is welcome to bask in the sun and sit on the lawn along the water in what will eventually be a continuous waterfront esplanade running the length of Greenpoint’s waterfront.
Some have noted that the park isn’t exactly as cozy as earlier renderings might’ve suggested: the benches are dark grey, industrial affairs, and the park seems to have quite a few hard edges—less an inviting, lush space of recreation than a stark, contractually agreed-upon bit of public concession.
Hopefully, the adjoining site of the future Box Street Park will make up for what some feel the Greenpoint Landing space lacks.
Factoring in the future plans for Bushwick Inlet Park between Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and the newly opened Domino Park near the sugar factory redevelopment, and it looks like North Brooklyn is finally making full use of its shoreline. Of course, with the inevitable population boom the development will bring to the north end of the borough, residents will need all the green, public space they can get!