Prospect Park

Prospect Park to add two new pedestrian entrances along Flatbush Avenue strip

First park entrances built since the 1940s

April 25, 2018 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Here's a glimpse of the city's fix-up of Prospect Park's Flatbush Avenue perimeter. Rendering courtesy of Prospect Park Alliance
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Prospect Park’s Flatbush Avenue dead zone is about to be jolted back to life.

Officials on Wednesday will reveal two new pedestrian entrances along the park’s eastern perimeter, currently a half-mile-long stretch without an access point.

The $5.6-million project is money well spent, advocates say.

“The new entrances are going to be a terrific addition that livens a long-dead area,” said Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. “When you walk down that street, it’s very dead. This will make Flatbush Avenue much friendlier for pedestrians. I’m delighted.”

The entrances will be between Grand Army Plaza and the Prospect Park Zoo, where the park is inaccessible behind an iron fence. They will be the first park entrances to be built since the 1940s.

The western perimeter of the park — in fashionable Park Slope — has multiple access points, plus a low stone wall that is easily traversed. But the eastern edge of the park has long been underutilized because of limited entry points.

The plan calls for doubling the width of an existing pedestrian walkway inside the park, installing decorative fencing and adding a row of street trees, the Brooklyn Eagle previously reported.

The Parks Department approved the new pedestrian entrances after 965 people voted through its Parks Without Borders Initiative, which picks projects by popular demand.

“It’s good to see that public money is used for something that so many people were supporting,” said Veconi, who lives five minutes from the proposed improvements.

 

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