Brooklyn Strand

4 Gateway to Brooklyn
Overview:
Current Conditions:
Opportunity:
Brooklyn is enjoying growth in the number of visitors, residents, local
students, and workers which are greeted with an abysmal entrance to
the Borough off the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway.
The existing Brooklyn-side, Brooklyn Bridge stair entrance is located under the
bridge on Cadman Plaza East at Prospect St. This entrance is narrow, not clearly
marked or visible, and is disorienting for locals and visitors alike. To the south
of the Brooklyn stair entrance is Cadman Plaza Park which terminates at the
Brooklyn Bridge southbound Cadman Plaza West exit ramp.
The northeast tip of Cadman Plaza Park slopes up and the Cadman Plaza West
exit ramp slopes down, creating an opportunity to bridge the exit ramp and
create continuous pedestrian access from the park to the Brooklyn Bridge
promenade. This plan would cover vehicular traffic that cuts pedestrians off
from the waterfront, while creating a viewing platform with easy, rational and
universal access to the Brooklyn Bridge promenade. It would make creative,
adaptive re-use of spaces underneath access ramps and activate underutilized
parkland adjacent to the Bridge that could be re-opened as public markets,
recreation space, and world-class plazas befitting the architectural grandeur
and world renown of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Brooklyn Strand Urban Design Action Plan — May 2016
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