What do you -- or your kids -- want to do in Brooklyn Bridge Park? Relax and enjoy the view, throw a fishing line in the water, go to a play, learn how to kayak or ice skate? That's the question the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy is asking the greater Brooklyn community as we put together a plan for programming in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We want your thoughts! Check back here in January to take a survey on programming in the future Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Working in partnership with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, New York State Parks, and New York City Parks, the Conservancy is conducting a study of comparable local and national urban parks and soliciting community input on educational, recreational, and cultural activities within the future Brooklyn Bridge Park. Funding for the plan has been provided by the Altman Foundation, the Fidelity Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and New York Community Trust.

The completed sections of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which include a small city park and Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, currently cover 12 acres of parkland, playgrounds and beaches in Brooklyn's DUMBO area. Over the next five years, the Park will grow to 85 acres, stretching for more than 1.3 miles along one of the most spectacular waterfront settings in the world.

"Every park begins as a dream," said Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy President Marianna Koval.  "We have a beautiful design, but as the Van Valkenburgh team moves to the details, we need to plan for how the park will be used. The decisions that are made in the next year will make our dream a reality and will define Brooklyn Bridge Park for generations to come."

Led by Mikki Shepard and Laura Mandeles of noted consulting firm WolfBrown, the Conservancy will conduct an extensive outreach effort including interviews and focus groups with community stakeholders, cultural, educational, and recreation groups, elected officials, and parks organizations, as well as public meetings, surveys, and online research.

"The opportunities presented as Brooklyn Bridge Park opens the waterfront to the public are endless. Community input is crucial to maximize how this rare treasure ­ the first major park in Brooklyn in over a century ­will be used," said Pat Foye, downstate chairman of Empire State Development, the parent corporation of Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp.

In addition to a general statement of goals and major recommendations, the Strategic Plan for Programming in Brooklyn Bridge Park will include suggestions for potential partnership arrangements and strategies, recommendations for interim uses during park construction, general recommendations for types of major facilities, infrastructure recommendations, a timeline for implementation of programs and construction of facilities and venues, and a financial plan for self-sustaining programming which carefully balances public and private uses.

"The 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park will be self-sustaining with funds realized largely from less than six acres of private housing," said Koval. "People have expressed concerns about the housing dictating park uses, but every urban park has residential neighbors. We can plan now and create early and democratic patterns of use to establish clear, public ownership of the park. As a public advocate, the Conservancy wants to facilitate a conversation about park use and activities among the people of Brooklyn and beyond who will enjoy this new, regional park."