Brooklyn Bridge Park announces vibrant spring, summer events calendar

Movies With a View, Pre-Show Parties, Beer Gardens, Brooklyn Vendors

April 4, 2017 By Scott Enman Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BBP visitors enjoy "Purple Rain," a past feature of the Movies With A View series. Photo by Etienne Frossard

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On any given weekend, hundreds of thousands of visitors are drawn to Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) for its lush lawns, breathtaking views and state-of-the-art athletic facilities.

People also voyage there for the park’s delectable food and drinks.

The 85-acre space boasts delicious coal-burning pizza from Fornino, tasty ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, luscious lobster rolls from Luke’s Lobster and thirst-quenching iced coffee from the Brooklyn Roasting Company.

In addition, visitors are treated to incredible views of the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan skyline and East River bridges.

But another major attraction for residents from Brooklyn and beyond is the park’s hundreds of free events. And on Monday, BBP and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy announced their 2017 spring and summer season events calendar featuring dozens of lively programs.

Returning is the fan favorite Movies With a View, which will be enhanced this year with a pre-show party featuring a beer garden, DJ and Brooklyn food vendors.

“The pre-show party, we had tested it out last year, but we’re bringing it to a new level this year,” Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster told the Brooklyn Eagle. “While folks have always come down early for the movie, we’re hoping that they’ll come down even earlier to grab a glass of wine or beer.

“We’ll also have food options there on the promenade where you can listen to music while you wait for the movies to begin.”

Films being shown this year include “Office Space,” “Pariah,” “Casablanca,” “The Lego Movie,” “9 to 5,” “Selma” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The public will choose the final showing.

Webster told the Eagle that the theme for this year’s movie selection — which will take place on Thursday evenings in July and August — is resistance.

“Our movie series brings so many people together on the Pier 1 lawn, has this incredible sense of community and goodwill that I always find very inspiring,” said Webster.

The season officially kicks off on April 8 with the 19th Eileen C. Dugan Memorial 5K in honor of Eileen Dugan, a New York state assemblymember from 1980 to 1996 who was instrumental in the eventual creation of BBP.

Come May, Brooklynites frequenting the park will be able to admire an abnormal-looking 26-foot-wide never-ending vortex of black water, which is the latest art installation by Mumbai-born, Britain-based sculptor Anish Kapoor.

The renowned artist’s whirlpool, dubbed “Descension,” will be installed at BBP’s Pier 1 and will be on display from May 3 through Sept. 10, 2017.

Other highlights include The BAMcinemaFest Outdoor Screening, an outdoor festival featuring live music, curated food and a film screening, which will take place on June 22 at 8 p.m. on Pier 1.

Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself Marathon on the Granite Terrace will take place June 10 at 5 p.m. It will be a marathon reading of the famous poet’s and former Eagle editor’s critically acclaimed poem “Song of Myself.”

Other returning fan favorites include Books Beneath the Bridge, Jazzmobile and All The Park’s a Stage. Free outdoor fitness classes like Zumba, Pilates, Broadway Dance, Hip-Hop Dance Aerobics and Sunrise Yoga will also be available.

In addition to the park’s programs, BBP will add more than 4 acres of new parkland with the opening of the Pier 5 uplands.

“Brooklyn Bridge Park, in addition to its absolutely magnificent views of New York Harbor and its lush lawns and natural areas, features amazing recreation areas plus a very rich portfolio of free and low-cost cultural, recreational and educational activities that we hope appeal to folks who live all across New York City,” Webster told the Eagle.

She added, “Our programs really utilize the waterfront nature of the park such as our kayaking programs where park visitors can actually interact with the water. That is really the magical thing about Brooklyn Bridge Park, that we are able to do such a variety of programs and bring so many different experiences to New Yorkers who come to the park to enjoy it.”

To see a full list of events, go to brooklynbridgepark.org.