A Self-Sustaining Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park is pioneering the concept of park self-sustainability.  The park will have a number of environmentally sustaining elements and will also be economically self-sustaining -- paying for itself rather than competing with other parks for scarce government funding for its yearly operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. 

As early as 1989, the community advocated for a self-sustaining park, calling for government funding to create the park, and revenues from limited commercial development to cover ongoing maintenance and operating costs.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) undertook an exhaustive 6 month analysis of the O&M costs for the park and estimates the price tag at $15.2 million per year, which includes the costs of maintaining the piers.

The BBPDC considered three key criteria in determining the most suitable way to pay for the park: 1) feasibility 2) efficiency, and 3) compatibility.  Office buildings, large parking facilities and big box and large scale retail were rejected on this basis.

Housing, which was determined to best meet these criteria, will provide much of the money to sustain Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Four residential buildings are proposed in the plan totalling 700,000 gross square feet spread over the three urban junctinos at the Con Ed lot, Pier 1, and Pier 6.  A hotel on Pier 1, the Empire Stores in DUMBO, and small retail will make up the balance of the revenue-generating development.  In total the development parcels will take up only 10% of the park's total acreage.

rendering Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.,
Landscape Architects 2005

Revenue-generating elements of the park plan, such as the Cafe on Pier 1 depicted above were designed to fill the park with life and activity.

Learn more.  Download the presentation with information on the 
Operations & Maintenance costs of Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

Download the Executive Summary of the Operations and Maintenance Budget.