Friends of Long Promised Waterfront Park to Occupy Bushwick Inlet Sunday

A mini-armada of kayaks, canoes, outriggers, and rowing rigs will be occupying the Bushwick Inlet this Saturday to bring attention to a decade-old promise for a 28-acre park along the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfronts that has yet to be realized. Organizers invite anyone who cares about this “last remaining open space in North Brooklyn” to join them in occupying the embankment.

There will also be some landlubbing activities, like art bombing, flying protest kites, and encircling the area with caution tape.

The promised Bushwick Inlet Park was pledged to the community in 2005, following the City’s overriding of the local Community Board’s vote against the rezoning of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront to allow development of tall residential towers in the previously industrial area.

The resulting development has helped increase the population by the tens of thousands, but the promised green areas along the waterfront remain barren with minimal public access, despite a small section of the park that opened in 2013.

The recent CitiStorage fire, on privately owned land that was supposed to be part of the public park, reinvigorated the call for parkland here.

The event is happening this Sunday, August 9, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Attendees should plan to meet on Kent Avenue and North 14th Street. Don’t forget your water vessel.

Bushwick Inlet Park Coverage [Brownstoner]
Images via Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park