After Years of Delays, Sunset Park Residents Celebrate New Waterfront Park
The Sunset Park waterfront was once a dumping ground for local industry. But now, after two decades of delays and conservation work, it's now home to a 23-acre park with a bicycle path, tidal ponds and sports fields.
City officials and local activists said the Bush Terminal Park project, located in an industrial area of Brooklyn, took so long to complete because it was a former brownfield.
But longtime resident Marion Palm said it was community nudging that finally helped bring the park to completion. "People advocated for this…we were promised this — we made copies of the promises that were made by elected officials,” said Palm.
She said she wrote the local community board a letter last week about the status of the plan. Now that it's open, she said she plans to spend a good deal of time there exploring.
Father Kevin Sweeney of St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church strolled along one of the freshly-paved esplanades during the opening ceremony. “There’s been anticipation at the parish,” he said. “It’s a crowded community with a lot of families and with just one other big park there’s a need—I think we’ll get a lot of use out of it.”
Nine-year-old Joseph MacDonald agreed. “I like seeing the view of the water and the city,” he said.
The park cost $38 million in federal, state and city funding.
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