Brooklyn Bridge Park's "Sheep Meadow" and Labyrinth on Pier 3 Take Step Closer to Reality

One of the final pieces of the plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park is finally coming to fruition.

Brooklyn Bridge Park leadership and staff, elected officials, and others involved with creating what has become a Brooklyn landmark gathered at Pier 3 for its official groundbreaking Wednesday. Pier 3 will be the final pier of Brooklyn Bridge Park to be repurposed — it is expected to open in 2018.

When completed, the five-acre pier will include a flexible area for recreation and events, a central lawn, a labyrinth for kids and adults featuring historic items salvaged from the park and, of course, expansive views of New York Harbor, Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. The project, like the rest of the park, was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

“I look at this as our Sheep Meadow in the center of the park — a place for us all to gather,” said outgoing Brooklyn Bridge Park President Regina Myer.

The groundbreaking is the final initiative of Myer’s tenure as president of Brooklyn Bridge Park; she will soon helm the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

“We will have here on Pier 3 a great lawn for our park, a harbor park,” said State Senator Daniel Squadron at the ceremony. “When I started saying that seven years ago it sounded silly, but with Pier 3, we will have the great lawn that will be every bit the civic square for New Yorkers here that Central Park has been for the last century and a half.”

The 85-acre park is about 90 percent completed or under construction, according to park officials. Formerly an industrial waterfront, it has been transformed into a highly popular destination over the last few years. Recent additions include Empire Stores, Brooklyn Children’s Museum Annex, and the Environmental Education Center. The park is also planning to create three new acres of parkland on Pier 2.

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