Brooklyn Promenade

Opened on October 7th, 1950, the Brooklyn Promenade is an 1,826 ft. long park situated in Columbia Heights on a bluff once known as Clover Hill. Built as part of Robert Moses’s BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) project, the park rests on top of a three-level cantilever structure built along Furman street which was designed as a natural buffer to the noise and pollution from the highway below.  The existing park and tier structure was decided on as an alternative to a 1941 proposal which would have ran the interborough highway directly through Brooklyn Heights.

Originally the site of a Native American settlement before the arrival of the Dutch, the Promenade’s location has always been cherished for its sweeping views of Manhattan, the East River, and the New York Bay. Looking out from the vista in 1864, Abraham Lincoln commented, “There may be finer views than this in the world, but I don’t believe it.” The area also served as a strategic vantage point during the Revolutionary War for George Washington, who established his headquarters there during the Battle of Brooklyn, and for the British forces that would occupy the bluff and Fort Sterling after his retreat. After the Revolutionary War, Columbia Heights was developed into grand private estates by some of the wealthiest families in Brooklyn including the Pierreponts, Hicks, Middaghs, Cornells, and Ramsens. Despite local protests regarding the privatization of the land and repeated calls for a public park on the site dating back to 1825, resistance from many of the powerful private landowners prevented the area from being accessible to the general public until the BQE proposal forced a compromise in the 1950s.

In 1965, the Landmarks Preservation Commission named Brooklyn Heights New York City’s first landmark district, preventing further development in the neighborhood. Coupled with the Promenade’s designation as a scenic views district in 1974, the impressive panorama was preserved for the enjoyment of countless local residents and tourists for many years.  In 2015, new tensions arose as The Pierhouse, a luxury hotel and condo building erected as part of the Brooklyn Waterfront redevelopment project, obscured views of the Brooklyn Bridge to the north. Following a protracted legal battle with the Brooklyn Heights Association, State Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Knipel ruled in favor of the building developers allowing the building to stand and permanently alter the view from the Promenade.