Brooklyn Bridge Park celebrates nearly 5 million visitors in 2023

November 30, 2023 Mary Frost

The “Movies with a View” film series always draws a crowd to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Here, moviegoers watch “Top Gun.” Photo: John Eng, Brooklyn Bridge Park

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS/DUMBO — Brooklyn Bridge Park, an 85-acre oasis running along the Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO waterfront, welcomed nearly 5 million visitors in 2023, according to the year-end wrap up issued by the park and its Conservancy on Wednesday.

The many visitors, which included both locals and tourists, were attracted to the park for a variety of reasons. Some came just to relax on the lawns, shaded groves and pebbly beach with spectacular views of the waterfront. Others headed to the park to enjoy outdoor recreation (think soccer, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, fishing, kayaking). Many took in the dining at one of the park’s food concessions, or fired up the BBQ at Pier 5’s Picnic Peninsula, with a view of the boats at ONE°15 Brooklyn Marina.

The pickleball courts on Pier 2 are wildly popular. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Families with kids headed for the park’s several playgrounds (including a very popular Water Lab), rode on the restored dancing horses of Jane’s Carousel, or enjoyed attractions like roller skating and ice skating.

And thousands more rolled in for the multitude of Conservancy-led recreational, cultural, volunteer and environmental education programs — including outdoor Movies with a View, waterfront Zumba classes, birdwatching, a fall Harvest Festival, a Wimbledon Watch Party and environmental lab.

A giant on stilts sits atop bales of hay stacked high, part of the 2023 Harvest Festival in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“We’re grateful for the support of our sponsors and partners and our colleagues at Brooklyn Bridge Park for helping us to present a dynamic and diverse season of arts and culture, recreation, and environmental education programming in the Park,” Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster told the Brooklyn Eagle.

“We are busy planning for an even more exciting 2024 season as well as welcoming school groups and families to our education classes and open hours at our Environmental Education Center, which we offer all year long,” she added.

This artwork, “In every language there is Land / / En cada lengua hay una Tierra,” by artist Nicholas Galanin, can be found in the Empire Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

New developments in the park

Brooklyn Bridge Park continues to add facilities and attractions. The park recently began building a new green Pier 1 entrance. The structure will include a visitors center and restrooms (there can never be too many).

The new 8,600-square-foot skating rink is tucked under the Brooklyn Bridge in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

The park also celebrated the recent opening of Glide Brooklyn Bridge Park ice skating rink and snack bar. The new, 8,600-square-foot skating rink opened in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza on Nov. 15. (The views from the rink, with the iconic Brooklyn Bridge towering overhead and the East River and Manhattan beyond, are awesome.) Brooklyn Public Library opened a new Teen Tech Center at 1 John Street within the park this year. Two new food concessions opened in the park as well.

Next spring, the Museum of Food and Drink will bring exhibits that can be tasted, touched and smelled to Empire Stores, the park said.

The Kite Festival in Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of the first activities of the spring season. Photo: John Eng, Brooklyn Bridge Park

‘Constructed ecosystems’ attracts wildlife, too

The number of visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park is especially impressive considering the relatively small size of the park — 85 acres, vs. the 526-acre Prospect Park, which logged 10 million visits this past year, according to the Prospect Park Alliance.

The site’s seemingly infinite view of river, sky and metropolis, along with its thoughtful use of space and native plantings, however, add an expanse of mental acreage to the physical space.

Quiet nooks and pathways like this one can be found scattered throughout Brooklyn Bridge Park. To the left is a wooden bridge that zigzags to the park from Brooklyn Heights. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

The park’s organically-managed “constructed ecosystems” attract a multitude of birds and other wildlife including migrating monarch butterflies and rare bumblebees. A salt marsh with Cordgrass provides a habitat for ducks and other waterfowl, along with crustaceans and bivalves. The vegetation and park edges were specifically designed to survive the occasional flooding the world’s warming temperatures bring.