On June 3, the city presented revised plans for its $9.8 million project to build a small waterfront park at the Bushwick Inlet in Greenpoint. The plans for a 1.9-acre sliver of green in between Franklin and Quay Streets will be a beautiful change of scenery in a predominantly industrial area, reports The Brooklyn Paper.
The new plans dubbed the Bushwick Inlet Motiva Site call for a simpler more naturalistic design of the park with less pavement and more green.
The idea was previously scrapped in 2019 by Community Board 1 Members as it's original rendering included too many paved pathways and not even soft greenery. But, community complaints were not left unheard.
"I think this is a tremendous evolution of the design and the designers and the parks team took in the data from the board and the community and I think the translation, there's a lot of softness, a lot more naturalism," said Steve Chesler, Community Board 1 member.
The site is part of the city's 2009 Greenpoint Williamsburg Waterfront Open Space Master Plan to transform the formerly industrial waterfront into publicly-accessible walkways and parks spanning from N. Third Street in Williamsburg to the northern tip of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.
And as a part of a larger park that stretches to the state's Marsha P. Johnson State Park (formerly known as East River State Park), the boomerang-shaped section of the space will be expected to have a small beach, wheelchair-accessible paths, wet marshes, and concrete paths, along with extensive greenery to boost local wildlife.
The timeline for the Motiva project is between 2-2.5 years, according to Brooklyn borough parks commissioner Martin Maher. However, delays in the park's construction are too be expected as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and cuts in the city's budget.
