Plan for Breathing Life into Downtown Ghost Parks
In a Times profile of Project for Public Spaces founder founder Fred Kent, the urban anthropologist calls the half-mile stretch of parks running north of Borough Hall a prime example of public space that could be better utilized. According to Kent, the frequently deserted parks could be transformed into a lively pedestrian market like Las…
In a Times profile of Project for Public Spaces founder founder Fred Kent, the urban anthropologist calls the half-mile stretch of parks running north of Borough Hall a prime example of public space that could be better utilized. According to Kent, the frequently deserted parks could be transformed into a lively pedestrian market like Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Kent envisions a market dotted with art stalls and produce stands that connects to the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, resulting in what could be the best approach to the waterfront in the United States. And Kent says the cost to develop the market would be less than $2 million, with rents from the market paying off the outlay within a couple of years. Seems like a great idea to us. Think it’s realistic?
Brooklyn Borough Hall [NY Times]
If Cadman Plaza is improved where will our Borough President and his staff park their cars?
don’t think anyone on this board has been to las ramblas anytime in the last 5 years.
seedy? are you crazy?
it’s like a runway for the young and fabulous. with a seedy character or two.
it’s also a major tourist area…very much unlike this area of downtown brooklyn.
a farmers market type thing would be great, but the comparison to barcelona is pretty farfetched.
9:05…you don’t think people compare themsevles to us in the u.s.? it’s a two way street.
your insular sense of not being able to have a view outside your own country is pretty closed minded. and rather ignorant.
Shhhake….shhhhack. [eyes dilate, hands tremble] If they would put one there on Cadman Plaza, I would start beating my child just so I could go to Family Court and have an excuse to go there for lunch afterwards.
[gulp, drool]
When I think of Las Ramblas, I think of Los Addicts.
two words: SHAKESHACK
http://www.110livingston.net/2007/08/27/five-guys-burgers-in-brooklyn-heights/
Atlantic Terminal is ghetto
I really don’t see the comparison to Las Ramblas, which is really just a wide avenue with stores and apartments along either side. It is not a park in any sense. It is a city street. This park is underused, though. Could use more special activities but I don’t know if a permanent market is the best idea.
I like the solitude of that park area. Lots of elderly people hang out there and folks on a break from their business at one of the courts, plus sometimes I see my super over there playing stickball at lunchtime. You could make it a bit more neighborhood-friendly with a dedicated bike path and a dog park, but I don’t see the need for a strip of vendor stalls. As is, it’s a nice visual and noise barrier between traffic on Cadman Plaza/Court Street and the traffic on Jay Street/Boerum Place.
has Kent actually been to Las Ramblas in Barcelona in the past five years? It’s pretty seedy. It’s filled with really tacky, touristy restaurants and drug addicts. I don’t know if it’s an urban planning high point.